Turning Tables
by Blackwolfhunting
Summary: When the Teen Titans face a new apprentice from Slade, what are they to do especially when this one can turn Invisible and hide from their sights. Though they receive surprising help that just might help reveal the mystery around this new apprentice and why exactly he hates one Vlad Masters' guts. Not a Slash, no Pairings, but mention of some torture and abuse.
1. First Meeting

Chapter One

First Meeting

The room was dark and no sounds were obvious except for harsh breaths. A figure was kneeled towards a large screen, one hand on his bent knee and the other fisted against the ground as he breathed in as deeply as possible, ignoring the sweat dripping down their face.

"Good job apprentice, you have done well since you have come to me." A voice said as the screen turned on, showing a shadowed face. The figure on the ground just stayed still, knowing that unless he was asked a direct question, he wasn't to answer. "You have come far from when I first obtained you and your potential has flown beyond my expectations."

He stayed quiet as his master talked, not bothering to answer to his supposed master, only staying quiet and gathering himself as he tried to keep his eyes open. He needed to stay awake so he could find out if he would be going out on a mission soon. He loved getting out of the lair, missing the cool night air as he flew through the sky.

His breathing was finally calming, his heartbeat was also calming as well, his body was cooling and he was finally getting the last of the adrenaline out of his body when his Master began to speak again.

"You will start missions again, but I don't want to see any more of those heroics. You will leave those people behind this time, whether the building is collapsing or not. You will retrieve the device and return. That is all." Master said as he looked down at the boy, who was now completely silent, not even his breathing could be heard. "Am I understood?"

The apprentice was silent for several moments before nodding his head. "Yes Master." A short and simple answer that he knew his Master would like. He was right when he got the normal reply.

"Good Apprentice, now, your target is this." The Apprentice looked up towards the screen and saw a small mechanical looking gun that seemed it could be attached to a bigger machine. "It is at the lab in Jump City, I'm sure you'll be familiar with the lab as well." Here a picture of the lab popped up and the Apprentice growled as he looked at the lab. "You know the defense systems that it'll have and I also received information that he'll be there too."

The Apprentice was now on his feet and moving towards the door. The Master watched with an empathetic face, only calling towards the boy before he left the room. "They will show if you set the alarms off. Be prepared to deal with them when that happens."

The Apprentice had his hand on the knob as he turned his body to look at the screen. "I will not let the Teen Titans stop me from retrieving what you wish Master." He said as he opened the door and turned towards it. "Even if it means destroying them once and for all." With that he disappeared through the door and into the darkness that lay beyond.

TeenTitans

The sounds of laughter could be heard in the air as he moved through the hallways, a smile on his face as he moved towards the main room of the tower. He entered the room and watched in amusement as a white car on screen rammed a purple and green car and knock it over onto its side, destroying it and crossing the finish line.

"DUDE! You so cheated! I call a rematch!" He saw the form of his teammate Beast Boy jump up from his place on the couch, his green skin and hair was obviously unnatural but totally natural next to the metal teen next to him.

"I did not, it's call strategy BB. I know just how to take you out so I can win." The boy said as he waved his remote in front of the other boy. "I just know how to play better than you." He said with a smirk. The boy turned towards the one standing at the entrance and smiled at him. "Hey Robin! You coming to play me at this, Beast Boy is way too easy to beat."

Robin shook his head as he examined his friend, the cyborg of the team, which also happened to be the name of the said cyborg. Cyborg had been in an accident when he was a teen a couple years ago and to save him, his father had turned him into a cyborg. He was fully mechanical with blue spots showing circuitry and the metal white plate covering more vital places. Cyborg was the technician on their team.

Robin turned towards the kitchen where he could find the alien of their team, or at least the all alien of their team. Starfire wore a purple mini skirt and a purple top to go with it, not to mention purple Go-go Boots as well with metal heels. Her red hair fell around her shoulders and her green eyes glowed with happiness. "Friend Robin, would you wish to partake in the fudge ice cream?"

Robin shook his head at her and walked towards the tables towards the side out of the way. "No thanks Starfire, but thanks." He said as he sat down next to his last teammate, another female from a planet of magic. "Hey Raven, anything interesting happen while I was away?" He asked as he leaned into the couch and let his arms lay on the back of the couch.

Raven sat cross legged, book in her hands and her robe wrapped around her but the hood was down, showing her dull purple hair, the red diamond on her forehead, and onyx eyes. She was unusually pale and wore a spandex suit that came to stop at the top of her thighs and a belt with black and red gems. Her long sleeves had a ring of cloth that wrapped around her middle fingers and finally her permanent frown on her face was seen by everyone.

Raven glanced at Robin and then at her book before she even bothered to answer her teammate. "Nothing really, just Mad Mod and Mumbo decided to try and take us out again, but we took care of them." Raven said as she turned the page in her book, continuing reading, not bothering to look at Robin anymore.

Robin nodded his head as he watched the rest of his friends mess around, Beast Boy was effectively getting his butt handed to him by Cyborg, who was an expert at the car game since he drove a mechanically enhanced car on a daily basis, especially during chases where the bad guys run.

"It's been a while since I had actually seen him ya know?" Robin said out of nowhere, his eyes on the ceiling now as his eyebrows creased. Raven raised an eyebrow and put her book down, feeling that her friend needed to talk about something, though she had to wait until he actually started talking again. "He was my father figure for years and I just kinda left, especially after that fight we had." Robin said, eyes staying where they were.

Raven knew what he was talking about, especially since she had been in the room when the boy wonder got the call that morning. Batman had been in town and had wanted to see Robin and talk. She had no idea how that had gone, but from the look on Robin's face, she guessed that it had gone well. "Did you tell him about Slade?" She asked with curiosity hidden deep in her onyx eyes.

Robin nodded his head absentmindedly. "I can't say he was really happy with the way I handled it but he was proud about how we took care of him later. He said that it wasn't my fault that Slade had fallen in that lava pit, only something that would've happened eventually." Robin paused for a moment before grinning. "Not in that exact way but I got what he was saying."

Raven smiled gently as she nodded her head and turned back to her book. "Did it help you, visiting with him after all this time?" She asked as she flipped her book open and began to read again, though her ears were still listening to Robin and he knew that.

Robin was again silent for several moments before letting his head roll towards Raven, a smile on his face. "It did actually, especially after all that's happened. You'd think after being the guy's apprentice for years I would learn that the guy does have a heart." He shook his head as he sat forward and ran a hand through his hair. "But I forgot after that fight, but I remembered that today."

Raven smiled to herself as Robin suddenly got up and headed to the kitchen. "I'm going to have some ice cream with Starfire, you want some?" He asked as he looked over his shoulder in time to see Raven shake her head.

"No thanks, I don't even want to think about what she put in it. She probably put mustard in it." Raven cringed at that but Robin just ended up laughing as he entered the kitchen area to help Starfire with the Ice cream, but stopped as the alarm went off, the room colored in red.

"Looks like trouble. Titans GO!" Robin yelled as soon as Cyborg had gotten the coordinates of the place in trouble. They all headed out, Starfire had taken to the skies as she flew towards the area, Robin on his motorcycle and Cyborg, Raven, and Beast Boy all piled into the T-Car, all speeding towards their destination.

"Cyborg, can you give us any details on the place being robbed? Any specs or blue prints, maybe some surveillance video?" Robin asked as he turned down the road, speeding pass other cars.

Cyborg hummed as he typed several buttons on the computer he had installed in his car, watching the road at the same time as he looked for information. Raven and Beast Boy only watched as Cy did his thing. "The place we're heading to specialize in several areas, one of the more prominent is defense equipment and military weapons. They have been working on several new projects for the military in Jump City. They're actually new to town though, just moved in this week. I don't know what they have though since they did just move only common knowledge at this point."

The growl he got from Robin told him he wasn't happy with this information but continued typing. "I'm hacking into the security system now; we'll see whose there and why." Cyborg said as he finally hacked into the system, the footage coming up to a certain screen that showed several security weapons firing, but nothing was there.

The three in the car blinked at the footage before Cyborg returned his eyes to the road. "There isn't anyone there. The weapons are firing but we don't see anyone there Robin." Cyborg said as he blew down the road, only about five blocks away from the lab.

Robin frowned as he turned the corner, coming towards the building, noticing right off the bat that there was a big hole in the wall. "Well, someone has got to be there, there's a hole in the wall." Robin responded as he got off of his bike, standing there as he waited for his team. He wasn't about to enter a building that had an unknown enemy inside alone and most possibly out numbered.

"Alright Robin, I see you." Cyborg said and only seconds later the T-Car stopped next to him and the three inside got out.

"I could not see anything wrong except for the hole in the wall." Starfire said as she came and landed next to everyone else. "It seems quiet though." She responded, worry in her eyes.

Robin nodded as he too realized that the sounds of blasts had stopped seconds after Star had landed next to him. "It seems that whoever is there has either gotten blasted to pieces or has disabled the security." Robin said. "I'll head in first with Raven, then Cyborg and Beast Boy, and then finally Star you'll take up the back." Robin said as he and Raven entered the building through the hole in the wall.

The others nodded and did as told; all ready for whatever laid within the building, though not truly sure if they would see anyone. 'Why couldn't the cameras see anything?' Robin asked himself as he stealthily moved down the hall, checking around the corners before moving on.

When Raven suddenly stopped though and grabbed his arm, Robin wasn't sure what he was expecting from her. "This thing isn't alive Robin."

TeenTitans

He had shown up at the lab only minutes after his Master had dismissed him, not bothering in waiting for anymore commands, he threw several small black marbles at the wall in front of him, and as soon as they made contact, they exploded and left a huge hole in the wall.

He didn't care about the whole being sneaking and stealthy part at the moment; he just wanted to get in and get the weapon for his Master and he would do anything to do that. He walked into the building, ignoring the guns now pointing straight at him and soon he had no choice but to make himself disappear so he wouldn't get hit. He growled as he dodged several of the blasts coming at him, but he didn't stop and kept moving.

He had to jump over rays, duck, roll, hop, fly, crouch, push up against a wall, and finally a really embarrassing roll that had almost broke his neck. He growled though as a laser almost hit him directly in the chest if he hadn't jumped out of the way. "Master, where is the control panel at?" He asked quickly as he dodged another shot at his head.

It was several moments before he got a response from his Master, the ear piece crackling in his ear as it suddenly came to life gave him some comfort at least. "You're heading straight for it. It'll be to your left hidden underneath a picture of the owner of the lab." Master said as the Apprentice dodged yet another blast.

"Got it." He said quickly as he moved down the hall and came to said picture, glowering at the picture before blasting it off the wall, destroying the man in the picture utterly. He smirked at that and then turned to the control panels for the security system and quickly followed his Master's instructions and shut the entire lab down. "Systems have been shut down; all power has been redirected to the weapons fault where everything is held." He reported.

"Good, everything is going to plan. Head towards the weapons vault, I'm sure the system there won't be a problem for you." The Apprentice nodded his head as he headed towards the vault, not stopping for anything, not even at the security office where he was sure he would be seen by a guard, who was actually knocked out at the time.

He went down several halls before he finally came to the vault. The door was solid steel, glowing white with all the extra energy running through it at the moment, but he knew that wouldn't stop him. So he casually walked right through the door and into the vault, where he began to look around for his objective.

He walked around and looked at several of the weapons hanging on the inside walls, each with a label underneath and whether it was workable or not. It was several minutes that were wasted until he came to the item that he wanted. He smirked as he grabbed the small gun and put it into the pouch he had been given to put it in. He then walked right back out of the room and into the hallway. He froze though as he saw five figures appear at the end of the hallway, all pointing some kind of weapon at him. He was set on edge as he realized who they were and instantly went on guard.

TeenTitans

Robin stared at Raven before nodding his head and then turning around the corner, just in time to see a boy with raven hair and sapphire eyes stop in front of the vault door that he was sure held some kind of weapons. The boy looked as if he was only sixteen years of age, approximately the same as him and his team, he was lean and you could see the muscles underneath his clothes.

Robin blinked at the style of clothes, not believing what he was seeing. It was the same outfit that he had worn when he was under Slade. Except the orange part of the outfit was white, but everything else was the same, down to the steel toed boots. Even the ragged S on the left side was the same. The boy looked up as all five of the Titans rounded the corner and pointed their weapons at him.

Robin blinked as the boy scowled suddenly and got into a fighting stance, one he knew belonged to his arch enemy and one he would use in his own style every now and then. Robin glared at this boy as he pulled out a birdarang and prepared himself to throw it. Cyborg had his arm cannon pointed, Raven had her black energy surrounding her hands, Starfire's own were glowing green, and Beast Boy was in the form of a wolf.

"Freeze and drop whatever you took." Robin commanded in his leader voice, getting ready to throw his Birdarang if the stranger made any movement. Though Robin blinked in surprise as the boy smirked and relaxed his body and stood up, his weight put mostly on his right foot and then his right hand landed on his hip, he was tossing the weapon in the air and catching with an air of carefree.

"You think you can stop me now Robin, my dear boy?" Robin blinked as the boy began to speak, the voice young and yet very smooth and velvety. "Do you really think you can defeat my apprentice, who has been with me for two years now?" The entire Teen Titans blinked as they realized what was going on. Slade was talking through the boy.

Robin snarled as he answered Slade, ignoring the fact that the boy was being used as a carrier pigeon. "We can take any of your goons on Slade! We proved that long ago!" The thought of Terra having joined Slade a couple years ago still hurt him, but he wasn't about to let it affect him now, he knew he had to take care of the here and now.

The boy laughed as he put his free hand to his left ear, most likely hitting the device in his ear. "I do hope you five know what you're really dealing with here, my Apprentice is much more ruthless and vicious than Terra, he will not pull his punches and he will eliminate you in search of completing his mission. He would even destroy me if I tried to stop him from completing anything that I assign." The boy laughed again as he looked at the Titans, his sapphire eyes glowed, but also seemed dead at the same time, as if he suffered from a great loss but was being pushed forward for something else entirely now.

Robin growled as the boy touched his ear piece again and then narrowed his sapphire eyes and smirked at them. "Slade might be my Master, but he is right. I will destroy anyone who gets in my way of improving my skills and abilities. I only wish to be useful to my Master." He said as he reached into one of the several pouches on his belt and pulled out several disks. "So if I have to destroy a bunch of upstart wannabe heroes, so be it." With that the boy threw the disks at them, but they went flying by the Titans.

Robin blinked in surprise, but then understood as a huge explosion rocked behind them, tossing them forward, where the boy shot up to them and literally knocked them backwards. Robin got a roundhouse kick to the face, sending him flying to the nearby walls. Beast Boy was unable to dodge the drop kick that sent him crashing into the ceiling and then back down. Raven never saw the explosion that blew up in her face. Starfire was unable to dodge the uppercut to her chin that sent her flying several feet away and Cyborg never expected his systems to be hacked again, just like Gizmo had done so long ago.

Robin crawled out of his place in the wall and looked around, blinking as he saw Starfire, Beast Boy, and Raven all standing back up, all scoffed and bruised slightly but okay. His eyes widened though as he saw Cyborg standing stiffly with the boy behind him, toying around with the half robot's systems. "Maybe I should make you blow up….Nah, be too messy, how about I shut you down for the rest of the day. That'll keep you out of my hair." The boy said as he suddenly twisted several wires inside of Cyborg and the robot's eyes suddenly dimmed and the once bright blue spots turned to gray as he was forcibly shut down.

Robin couldn't believe what he was seeing, his team being taken down so quick and efficiently without the boy even getting a scratch. It was as if he already knew what they were going to do and took the necessary steps to knock them out. Robin gulped as he stood back up, now only realizing what a threat this boy really was. He'd have to take him on head to head to see how he really held up against someone really trained in the truest form of martial arts.

With that thought, Robin approached the boy, who was now tossing the machine again and was watching him approached with cautious sapphire eyes. Robin couldn't believe the eyes on the boy though, even if they were about the same age, he had never seen eyes like his. They were dead and yet burned with an inner fire that just asked to be freed. 'How is he Slade's apprentice if he has so much strength?' Robin thought as he got down in a crouching position, ready to attack.

The boy narrowed his eyes and put the machine back into a pouch at his hip, zipping it up so it didn't fall out, and fell into a position of his own. "You want a one on one battle, right?" The boy asked as they began to circle each other, stepping over Cyborg carefully when needed to.

Robin nodded his head as he too carefully moved his feet, making sure that he wasn't about to fall on his face or trip, leaving an opening for the boy. "I would actually like to know your name though, before I beat you down." Robin said as he watched with narrowed eyes as the boy pressed his ear again, the small cylindrical earpiece unseen to him but he knew it was there. The boy nodded his head as Slade said something and then looked at Robin with those dead and yet alive eyes of his.

"Master says it's alright for you to know my name, especially since he seems to think you can't do anything with it." The boy said as he stopped and stared at Robin, eyes narrowing and his muscles tensing, Robin knew he was about to attack. "You can call me Phantom." He said as he suddenly disappeared into thin air.

Robin gasped in surprise and then fear as the boy reappeared in from of him and punched him in the face. Robin hit the ground as he was unprepared and looked up at Phantom, who was now sneering down at him. "I see why you call yourself that." Robin said as he stood back up and closed his eyes, waiting for another attack.

Phantom's eyes narrowed as he looked at Robin, knowing what the other teen was attempting to do. He didn't go invisible this time, just attacked head on and watched as Robin dodged his slowed down attacks, though the boy wonder had no idea what Slade was saying to Phantom at the time and if he did, he'd wished he'd kept his eyes open.

"I've hacked into the main power system Phantom. I'm going to shut everything down and once everything goes dark, blast him and get out of there. You have completed your mission and there is no reason to decimate the Titans just yet. I still have plans for them." Phantom nodded his head, knowing Slade would see the confirmation from a nearby camera somewhere.

It was just a few more moments before the lights turned off. Beast Boy, Raven, and Starfire all gasped at this; Robin was left unaware though as he kept his eyes shut, listening to Phantom's foot falls. The boy wonder gasped as a burning pain ripped through his chest and he was sent flying backwards. His chest was on fire with pain and he was unsure of what just hit him.

Robin opened his eyes as Starfire leaned over him with worried eyes, one of her hands were lit up with green energy as she looked at him, eyes wide with terror and fear. "Robin, please tell me that you are the ok." She said as Robin sat up, holding his chest in pain.

Robin looked at his chest in painful horror, seeing that part of his costume was burnt away and a big red burn was covering half of his chest. He knew though that if he didn't answer Starfire soon she would start to panic and he didn't need that. "I'm alright Star, just a small burn." He said as he stood up on wobbly legs and looked around, arm wrapped around his waist.

Starfire stood up next to him, watching with worry but soon began to look around as well. Raven and Beast Boy were kneeled down next to Cyborg, trying to wake him up but to no avail. Robin could tell that Cyborg was going to be out for a long while, but he was unsure of how long that was going to be for sure. Robin continued to look around, looking for Phantom, but was unable to find him. "He got away." Robin growled as he walked over to the three on the ground.

Raven nodded her head as BB turned into his wild beast form and lifted Cyborg easily over his shoulder and nodded with Robin in agreement. Starfire just stood next to Robin, looking at him carefully as she did to make sure he wasn't about to fall. Raven simply shook her head as she turned and walked away from the Teen Titans' leader.

Beast Boy and Starfire looked from her and then back to Robin until Raven had totally disappeared. "Friend Robin, what has just happened?" Starfire asked as she looked at him tentatively.

Robin was looking at the ground as he played the fight over again, but he was unsure of Raven's actions had truly meant. "I'm not sure Starfire." Robin said as he looked back up at her. "But I have a feeling that we're going to find out, whether we want to or not." He said as he followed Raven out. Beast Boy and Starfire glanced at each other before nodding and following after their leader.

None of them paid mind to the camera that was following their every move as they left the building.

TeenTitans

Phantom entered the training room where Slade stood standing, looking at the boy calmly and waiting for him to stand right in front of him. "Good job Phantom, you have done well today, not to mention that you have shown the Titans just how powerful you are." Slade said as he held his hand out. Phantom reached into his pouch and pulled out the little gun that he had stolen earlier.

Slade smirked underneath his mask and pulled several different pieces of machinery out of his own pouch and put the gun together with the other pieces. "Though Robin seemed intrigued by you and might just try and pursued you to his side. You know what'll happen if you even consider it. Hold out your right arm." Slade commanded as he looked at the gun carefully before nodding to himself.

Phantom nodded and held out the requested hand, Slade strapping on the gun quickly and efficiently, nodded towards the young Phantom who had his hand held in front of him, looking at the gun strapped to his wrist. "This is your reward for a job well done. I had Robin do the same, but your weapon is much stronger and deadlier, not to mention it was modified to affect more than just humans. Do not let Raven destroy it like she did with Robin's." Slade said as he turned and began to walk away. "Come, we have much training to do if you wish to truly gain control of what little powers you have."

Phantom nodded his head and disappeared into the dark with his Master.

TeenTitans

He couldn't believe it! The brat just couldn't be back after a two year disappearance. Especially a good few hundred miles away from his original home. Not now of all times too! He just couldn't believe the film that he was being shown, especially when the Titans had shown up at the lab as well.

The lab was fine for the most part, but he wondered why such a simple weapon had been taken. Why the boy had gone after something so trivial when all the weapons on the inside were more dangerous than all the weapons on a military base. They could eradicate the entire planet if used right.

So why had the boy taken the most trivial and non-harmful weapon there? Could it be that his hero side was still there and the boy didn't really want to destroy the planet, or was it for a greater reason? He sighed as he rubbed his head, wondering just why this was happening all of a sudden.

"I can't believe he's turned back up, after the last two years. Where could he have gone, how has he hid, how has he survived?" He asked himself as he ran a hand through his gray hair, breathing out as he watched the part where the boy hacked into Cyborg and shut him down all together. "When did he get so smart?"

The boy had been a C average student two years ago, but now he was beating veteran heroes and hacking into a complicated system such as his company and Cyborg himself. The boy had grown in the two years since his disappearance and now he wondered if he would be a danger to himself.

His eyes glowed red suddenly as he remembered the state of the wall that had been destroyed. "Reappearance or not, I will not stand for him breaking and entering, not to mention destroying my property and business!" He exclaimed as he slammed his hand on the table and growled. "I will find him and knock some sense into him once and for all." He claimed, but he knew he would have to find the boy first, and to do that, he would have to find the one controlling him. But to find the one controlling the boy, he'd have to use others.

"Watch out Slade, I'm coming after you." He growled as his eyes glowed red in the darkness. "Jump City will see just what I'm made of."

TeenTitans

A.N. So what do you think, will this work or are you unhappy about it. Bet you can all guess who Phantom is and who this mysterious guy is with red eyes is too! Review and let me know your thoughts! Please and thank you!


	2. Encounters

Chapter Two

Encounters

"What the heck was that!?" Cyborg yelled as he rebooted up finally, having had a long night sleep that had lasted well into the afternoon. "He hacked into my system as if it was Microsoft computer! Even Gizmo can't hack into me as fast as that!" He complained as he took his finger and began repairing some of the damage that had been done by the hacking.

"Like, I totally know dude! I can't believe that he disappeared like he did! Not to like mention the glowing green stuff he shot at Robin!" Beast boy said as he waved his hands around in terror and fear!

Robin growled at the mention of the energy, rubbing his chest gingerly where a bandaged was wrapped around him, hiding away the burn that was there. "That stuff really packs a punch too." Robin muttered as he leaned back onto the couch, his head fall back of it as he looked up at the ceiling. "What's really bugging me though is how Slade is still alive."

The room quieted for several seconds before Starfire looked around the room, seeing all the depressed faces that were on her friends, causing her to feel slightly depressed as well. "Friends, can we not see if we can find information on Phantom? He seems one of a kind; somewhere must have information on him." She stated as she looked towards Robin, her eyes glowing with slight anticipation and excitement. "Surely we can find something!"

Robin stared at her shocked, not use to Starfire being one of the more reasonable ones of the group, though he probably shouldn't have been so surprised. Robin smiled at her softly and took her hand, nodding his head in agreement. "Star's right, if he's as unique as I think he is, then he'll be easy to find information on. Raven, can you handle that?" Robin asked as he turned to look at the two.

Raven nodded as she drifted over to the computer and began to type in things.

Robin nodded as he turned to Cyborg, noting that the other was just shutting the panels to his body and standing up straight. "Cy, could you get us some thermal detector goggles or something, that way if he decides to go invisible again, we'll be able to find him without too much of a problem?" Robin asked.

Cyborg nodded his head with a determined frown on his face, already thinking of ways to do this. "You got it Robin, I'll have those ready by today." He said as he turned to look at Beast Boy, who was sulking slightly. "Come on BB, you can test them out for me." Cyborg called over, cheering the other up a little bit.

"K dude, I'll come and help out then." Beast Boy called back as he stood up, moving towards Cyborg with a heavy aura around him, eyes down, startling Starfire and Robin both.

Starfire blinked before she flew in front of her green skinned friend, touching his forehead, making Beast Boy freak slightly before he realized who it was. "Green friend, are you okay, you are not sick, are you?" She asked as she stared at him with worried emerald eyes.

Beast Boy gave a weak grin and shook his head. "Nothing really Star, just feeling down because of this new guy." He said as he looked up at her with soft onyx eyes.

Robin's eyes narrowed as he looked at the other, his mind whirring as he took this in, adding in the fact that Beast Boy had Animal DNA in him. 'I wonder…' Robin thought as he watched Beast Boy leave, noting the slight tremble in the other's shoulders as he disappeared.

"Hmm, seems like the shape changer can actually feel me." Robin blinked in surprise as he whirled around to face the person who had spoken.

"What the…" Robin said as he stared at the person who had entered their tower without setting off the alarms.

Starfire and Raven were both staring at the male as well as he floated in the room, his pure crimson eyes staring at them with slight trepidation, but otherwise disdain. His skin was blue and his hair was shaped up into a V shape with a white band down the middle of it, a white cape flowed down his back and his white shirt and pants were pristine, a black belt, boots, and gloves set the white off while the red inside of the cape gave him a more menacing look. The man held himself with respect and power, making Robin believes they would have difficulty in defeating him.

"Who are you and how did you get inside the tower?" Robin asked as he pulled out his staff, pointing one end at the intruder while Starfire and Raven powered up, Raven's eyes glowing and soon Cyborg and Beast Boy reappeared, Beast Boy looked unnerved and quite scared.

The man didn't say anything for several moments, staring at the teens that were ready to take him out if need be. It was several moments later that he raised his hands in the air in surrender and spoke this being the time when they saw the fangs. "I'm not here to fight." He said and then looked at Beast Boy, "Despite the fact that I clearly unnerve one of your own." He announced, making Beast Boy flinch.

Raven's eyes narrowed as surrounded the man in a black force field, holding him in place, only for him to disappear and reappear in front of it. "My name is Vlad Plasmius and I am a Ghost." He spoke clearly, startling the entire group of teens.

Robin stared at the self-proclaimed ghost before staring at his team. "Um okay…this is new." He said as he looked at Vlad, unsure of what exactly to say.

Vlad smirked at them as he landed on the ground, making sure the teens could still see his hands. "I've come to help you with your Phantom problem." He said as he glanced at BB again, who was still trembling slightly, it apparent that if he was in a dog form at that moment, his tail would be tucked between his legs. "It seems you already have a locator for him as well."

BB gulped in fear, but Cyborg kept his Sonic Cannon trained on the ghost, his eyes narrowed at that last statement. "What do you mean by that?" He asked, hoping a simple question would clear up what the elder man meant.

Vlad stared at the five teens with hesitant eyes, but also calculating, as if he was planning on something and he had to go about it very carefully. "You see, your friend, the shape changer there, can sense me and others like me. I believe it is because he changes into animals and it is said that animals see things that humans can't, or sense them at least." Vlad stated as he floated over towards BB, who backed away from him in fear.

Cyborg and Starfire quickly intercepted the man and stopped him from nearing their friend and teammate, neither liking what he was saying.

Robin though was sure that the man was right, especially since BB was acting strange around him, as if he was scared of him. "Raven, bring up the footage of last night and train it on Beast Boy." Robin said as he called over to the spell caster, who was still near the computers.

Raven gave him a raised eyebrow, but nodded none the less and brought up the footage, closing in on BB who was a wolf at the time. Everyone who knew their friend well was startled when they saw him shaking in the footage and stepping backwards carefully, tail tucked between his legs in fear.

Beast Boy had his head down in real life, glaring at the floor as he was revealed for the coward that he felt he was. "He has the ability to sense those who are not supposed to be here, ghosts if you will." Vlad said and then he turned towards Raven, who was staring at him with narrowed eyes. "The girl in the cloak can confirm that I am no longer alive, just like she did the other night for our young friend."

Robin turned to Raven, who nodded reluctantly. "He is not alive, he is dead like the boy, but somehow, he is different. I'm not sure how, but something is off about him that isn't normal for most ghosts, the boy is the same way." Raven replied as she watched Vlad with wary eyes while Vlad stared at her with the same look.

Robin nodded his head as he turned back towards where BB was hidden behind Starfire and Cyborg. 'I'll need to talk to him later.' Robin thought as he turned back towards Vlad. "What can you do to help us with Phantom? If what you say is true, then what can you offer us to catch him?"

Vlad smiled at him as he turned and floated over towards the computers, staring back at Robin with eyes asking for permission. Robin nodded his head reluctantly and soon Vlad was typing away on the computer, bringing up image after image on the big screen for everyone to see.

Images of a black haired kid with baby blue eyes appeared, from pictures of school, passports, newspapers, and a magazine. All of it appeared on the big screen, but the thing that really caught their attention was pictures and newspapers showing a boy with white hair, glowing green eyes, and a black hazmat suit. Once he was sure all the information he needed was on the screen, he turned back towards them, his hands now behind his back.

"Phantom is more than just a boy with powers." Vlad said as he pointed towards the white haired boy that was flying in the sky, "He can change his appearance to look different and keep his powers secret, and he did when he lived back in Amity Park."

Something clicked in Robin's mind as he looked at the picture and the mention of Amity was enough to keep that connection. "Amity Park in Illinois, that place is supposedly haunted by thousands of ghosts. It all started with a couple of scientists inventing some sort of portal to another realm." He said as he walked closer to the screen, his staff was still in his hand, ready to use if necessary.

Vlad was obviously surprised, but he hid it well by turning back towards the screen and tapping on a key, bringing up said picture of the portal and the small family in front of it. "You are correct. The Fenton parents were incredibly intelligent, even if the father was a buffoon as well." The hatred was clearly heard as the father was mentioned, but no one said anything about that.

"The portal was created, but it didn't work at first, it was a failure." Vlad continued as he tapped on a button again and brought up several pictures of three teens, one looked exactly like the teen they had faced the night before except he wore a white t-shirt and blue jeans, his eyes sparkling with a powerful fire that was missing from the boy the other night. The other two weren't very interesting, but Robin noted one very Goth looking girl with a half pony tail, plaid skirt, purple leggings, and combat boots with a black shirt. The other boy was African American and wore a yellow shirt with camouflage pants, hiking boots, a red beret, and squared glasses.

"These three teens were down in the Fenton's lab one day, the boy with the black hair being their son, and were exploring the portal. None of them knew that the idiot had installed an on button on the inside of the portal." Vlad snarled as he clicked another picture, this time showing the white haired teen on the floor unconscious, the portal behind him glowing. "The Fenton boy walked into the portal and turned it on while still inside, this gave him his powers and I guess, in a sense, killed him as well." Vlad said again as he brought up a picture of Phantom fighting a metallic ghost.

"From there, he became the town hero, helping keep ghosts at bay, but his downfall came the day his entire family and two bests were killed." Vlad said as he finally brought up a newspaper clipping with a picture of the entire family and the two kids in it. "He was distraught and suicidal; I had no idea of the happenings with the boy at this time, even when he came into my employer's care."

Robin's eyes narrowed as he looked at Vlad, that wording catching his attention. "Your employer? Who is that exactly?" Robin asked as he looked up at the picture with the family and the title stating quite clearly, '**Six People killed in Nasty Burger Accident! Only one survivor!' **"Why are you even working for him if you really are a ghost?"

Vlad turned and looked at the boy wonder, a small smile on his face. "My dear boy, a ghost has an obsession when they become part of the otherworld, my obsession being power. So I work to protect the richest and most powerful man in the world to stay close to that which I love." He said as he clicked another key on their computers, bringing up a picture of someone all of the five teens knew of.

"Vlad Masters has allowed me to become a body guard in the sense of it so I can keep my mind and yet still be able be near my obsession. But when the boy arrived, I knew trouble would come with him." Here the ghost growled a bit as he tapped another key, bringing up a picture of Masters standing with Phantom, a mournful look on his face while he had a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Within the week the boy had fought with me a total of twelve times, each time I had to take him back to my employer so he could be healed properly. After an incident though, one where the boy was severely injured and almost died, he ran off, intent on staying away from us." Plasmius said as he turned back towards the teen. "I was unaware where he was for a couple of years, but when Masters saw the footage from the latest break in, he sent me to assist you if you so wish."

Robin continued to stare at the information and then back at Plasmius, wondering what exactly they should do. "How would you give us assistance blue one?" Robin stared at Starfire in shock, but otherwise he turned back towards Plasmius, who had reached into his pocket at this point and pulled out a silver metallic belt.

"This is one way that I can help you. This is called the Specter Deflector and it was created by Madeline and Jack Fenton. It allows the wearer to keep from being overshadowed and any ghost that touches a person or the belt itself, while it's turned on, will be given a high shock." Plasmius explained as he pulled out another item. "This is called a thermos, another invention from the Fenton's; it can suck a ghost inside and contain it without much of a problem."

Robin picked up the belt and examined it closely, wondering if he could take it apart and examine it closely, he really wanted to know what made it tick. "This next one will most likely come in handy for you, oh great prodigy of Batman." Plasmius said as he pulled out a small black cylindrical object, pressing a button on it and soon a red staff stood next to the ghost. "This is one of Masters' inventions, based off of one of the Fenton's. This is the Master Staff, it is energized with ectoplasm and will zap or burn a spirit when hit with this." With that Plasmius retracted the staff and handed it to Robin, knowing he would be the one using it.

Cyborg walked forward and crossed his arms in front of him; his eye narrowing as he looked at Plasmius. "That's all dandy and everything, but none of this is going to help us if we can't see the kid. He can apparently go invisible and intangible." He said with a huff, still aggravated that the kid had hacked into his systems.

Plasmius smirked at this as he looked at Cyborg, his red eyes flashing with amusement. "Oh, you mean like this?" He asked as he turned invisible, reappearing behind Cyborg. "Oh, let's not forget how he got into your systems by going intangible and switching the switch." He continued as he did just that and opened the back of Cyborg open. "But those belts will keep him from touching you like this again." Plasmius said as he hit the switch again and shut the panel before reappearing back in front of everyone. "Have that belt on and you'll be safe from his hacking again my good boy."

Cyborg gulped at that and nodded his head as he moved backwards again, away from the ghost slightly. BB was growling in his throat as Plasmius had showcased his powers, causing his hair to stand on end and his fangs to sharpen slightly. If he had been an animal, his hackles would be up and claws extended if possible.

Robin's eyes were narrowed at that and he made sure that Plasmius was aware of how much he and his team disliked that move. "You shouldn't do that again, otherwise I can't guarantee that Raven and Starfire won't blast you out of the tower." He said as he motioned for both girls to lower their glowing hands. Both did reluctantly as their eyes returned to normal as well.

Plasmius nodded his head as he pulled out what seemed to be goggles. They were on a black rubber strap and the lenses themselves were red. They were surprisingly thin and none of the Titans were sure if they would really work. "This was also modeled after a Fenton invention, this time just Madeline's. She had goggles that would shoot lasers, but could also find a ghost that was invisible at that time. All you have to do is put this on and turn the lenses to the right, which will activate the thermal imaging, but if you turn it to the left, you'll get lasers."

Robin nodded his head at this as he watched Cyborg take the goggles and put them on, twisting the lenses to the right, where he gasped and nodded his head. "This is some high tech gear; this woman must've been brilliant." Cyborg said as he twisted them to the left to turn the thermal off, but twisted it too far and shot the lasers out and causing Raven to almost get fried. "Opps, sorry Ray."

Raven glowered at him, but otherwise remained silent. Robin only shook his head as he turned towards Plasmius again. "This is all that you've brought us, right?" He asked.

Plasmius looked at the boy wonder and nodded his head. "That is correct, but Masters has offered to give you one more piece of gear if you want it. It is a ghost shield that can be installed into your tower, but once it is installed, I will be unable to enter, but the same goes for young Daniel as well."

The Titans all stared at him in confusion at the name for a moment before realizing that Daniel was Phantom. "That would be great, but if you don't mind, I'll install it. I created this tower and no one else is touching it but me." Cyborg said as he pointed to himself in emphasis.

Plasmius nodded his head at this as he took out several more of the belts and thermoses, the goggles and another couple staffs before he began to float out of the tower. "I will bring the shield with instructions later, until then, ta!" With that Plasmius disappeared from sight and left the teens looking at the equipment that he had left.

Beast Boy though was still near the doors, trembling lightly as he watched the window, not moving from his spot. Plasmius smiled at the shape changer before waving at him and finally leaving the tower, allowing BB to relax and check out the gear with his friends.

Robin frowned as he had watched Beast Boy the entire time, wondering why he had been tense when Plasmius had clearly left. _'You see, your friend, the shape changer there, can sense me and others like me.' _Robin's eyes widened at that slightly before turning to the window that his Green friend had been staring out of. 'So why did he disappear if he didn't leave right away?' Robin thought to himself.

That was about the time that the alarm went off, startling the entire team for a moment. "Trouble, Titans Go!" Robin yelled as he took off, already knowing that Cyborg would have the information that they wanted on where to go.

"Head for the Wayne enterprise! The factory there has been attacked and several of their computer chips have been stolen!" Cyborg called over the intercom, stunning Robin slightly before the boy wonder got back in gear and pushed his bike even faster, Beast Boy flying overhead in his pterodactyl form, Starfire right next to the green wonder.

Quickly moving into the building they searched the area that had been infiltrated, Cyborg already hacking into the security mainframe to see who was there. Robin was in the lead when Cyborg gasped, catching the boy wonder's attention. "It's Phantom."

Robin nodded his head and twisted the belt to activate it, the rest doing the same. "Be ready for anything." Robin said as he pulled out the Master Staff, extending it so he could attack immediately.

Phantom was just phasing through a wall when he was smacked in the side, sliding across the floor and hitting a wall as he came to a stop. He glared up at the person that had hit him, frowning when he saw the red staff in Robin's hands. "Nice toy, who gave you it?" He asked as he stood back up, getting into a fighting stance, ready to take the boy wonder out again.

Robin smirked as he twirled the staff. "A friend of ours, you even know him too." He replied as he leapt forward, swinging his staff at the other raven haired teen, Phantom side stepping it and went to grab a hold of Robin.

Robin smirked as he expected the other boy to yell out in surprise or something as his Spector Deflector was on, but what he didn't expect was the grunt from the other before he was tossed into the wall opposite. "Guess that wasn't as effective as we thought it would be." Robin muttered as he stood up, just in time to see Beast Boy get kicked to the side.

"Where did you get those?" Phantom asked as he looked at the five other teens in wariness, his eyes flaring to a neon green before fading back to a dull blue. "No one but Plasmius has those." He said as his eyes went back to Robin, his eyes going to the staff and then back to the belt that Robin was wearing, his eyes widening in realization.

"That is correct Daniel." Phantom blinked in surprise as he was hit in the side by a pink blast, sending him flying into a wall again, groaning this time. "It has been too long Daniel, why don't you come home?" Plasmius asked as he reappeared out of nowhere, startling the Titans.

Phantom growled at him as he stood back up, looking towards the Titans before focusing on Plasmius entirely. "I wouldn't go back even if you were the only person left on Earth." Phantom spat as his eyes flickered to neon green again before returning to the blue.

Plasmius chuckled as he floated inches off the ground, staring at the boy with a calculating look. "I don't think you have a choice boy, it's either come back with me or be locked away in a jail cell."

Phantom smirked at this as he stood up straight, his chin tilting into the air in a haughty fashion. "I'll take a jail cell then please." He said haughtily as he ducked down and threw several beads at Plasmius, all of them exploding in the ghost's face.

"It'll take more than that to hurt me." The titans gasped in surprise as they watched Plasmius return to the physical world, glaring at the boy in front of him, only the boy was no longer there.

"I know!" Plasmius blinked as a foot slammed into the side of his head, the steel toed boot causing a cracking sound to be heard as it connected.

"Ugh, butter biscuits." Vlad muttered as he held his head in his hands.

"Get away from him!" Robin yelled as he jumped in front of Phantom, swinging the Master Staff at the other to get him to get away from the injured ghost. Phantom did as planned, looking at Robin with a curious look in his dulled blue eyes.

"Why are you helping him?" Phantom asked as he looked behind him in time to see Starfire send a blast of emerald energy at the boy, dodging out of the way in time to get away. "He's nothing but a villain."

Robin blinked in surprise at this, watching as the boy dodged a punch from Cyborg and then a bite from Beast Boy in the form of a raptor. The boy was even able to dodge the dome that Raven tried to capture him in. "What do you mean he's a villain?" Robin asked as he jumped in front of the boy, getting Phantom's attention back on him.

Phantom shrugged as he glanced over to Plasmius, who was floating off to the side again, waiting for a perfect chance to catch the boy off guard. "He's always been evil, I'm surprised you're working with a thief and not to mention he's a total and utter Frootloop." Phantom replied, a bit of humor at the end.

"I am not a frootloop!" Plasmius yelled as he fired a lightning bolt at the boy, catching Phantom by surprise at this and unable to dodge. He cried out in pain as the shock went through his body, pain erupting in his heart and his other organs. His ear began bleeding as his communication device with Slade exploded from the high voltage. "It seems you still cannot dodge that." Plasmius said as his attack finally subsided.

Phantom glared at him as he climbed to his knees and hands, panting hard as he stood up shakily, blood dripping down the side of his head from his ear. "At least I don't need a lonely guy cat, oh; let's not forget that you kept hitting on a married woman." Phantom said as he smirked at the infuriated ghost. "At least I was able to get a girl to actually like me."

Plasmius scowled at the boy in front of him, wondering when the other had gotten such an attitude. "At least I didn't blow mine up." He retorted, but soon regretted it as the boy's eyes dulled to a navy blue and the fire dimmed within them. "Oh snicker doodle." Plasmius muttered as he glared at the boy.

"Phantom, retreat, you cannot take him on now, retreat." The voice of Slade resounded through the compound, alerting that the other man had taken control of the systems there.

Phantom stared up at the ceiling for a second before smirking at the Titans and Plasmius. "Good thing I've gotten what I came for then." He said as he turned and began to run, disappearing into thin air as he did.

"Quick, after him!" Robin yelled as he pulled on the goggles, twisting them to the right, activating the thermal imaging. They ran in the direction that the boy had taken and quickly caught up with him, Starfire sending an energy bolt at him, hitting the raven boy in the back.

"Gah!" Phantom yelled as he reappeared, one of the belts that were around his middle smoking and sparking as he turned on his stomach and pulled it off. "You're dead." Phantom said as he glared up at the girl, throwing several beads at Starfire.

Starfire quickly moved out of the way, but the attack did affect her as smoke exploded from the beads and soon showed Starfire dropping from the air like a bag of bricks, unconscious. "Starfire!" Robin yelled as he watched her hit the ground with a thud, but otherwise alright.

Phantom chuckled as he stood back up, but swayed as he gulped in air through his lungs, quickly clutching his side where the belt had burnt him. "She got what she deserved." He said as he groaned, falling onto the wall nearest him in pain.

Plasmius watched him with interest as the Titans all watched him warily, already thinking that it was a ploy. "You were using a belt to become invisible? Why would you do such a thing with your abilities?"

Phantom glared at him before he shut his eyes tightly, his head spinning again as he tried to get control of his body, his equilibrium off from the device exploding in his ear, wondering if this was the end for him. "That would be your fault, now wouldn't it?" Phantom replied as he reached into his belt again, pulling out three marble sized capsules as he used his other to pull up a mask. "Now, why don't you take a nap?" He said as he threw the capsules to the ground.

Purple smoke erupted into the air and all the Titans began to cough, Plasmius was trying to cover his mouth and nose, but he was unable to and fell to the attack.

Soon, all of them were asleep like Starfire, allowing Phantom to disappear from the building and down a sewer, soon coming to Slade's domain. "Master." Phantom said as he bowed in front of the other, holding out several microchips to Slade.

"Well done Phantom, I am pleased with your work, but you must be careful from now on with your old enemy in town." He said as he looked at the boy with a stern eye. Phantom nodded his head as he stared at the ground, ignoring the warmth that was still falling down the side of his head and how the world was spinning. "Good, do not allow him to injure like that again and don't use your abilities, your progress will be regressed several months if you do." Slade side as he disappeared back into the shadows, leaving Phantom to his own devices.

Phantom glared at the ground as he stood up, beginning to walk towards where his Master kept all of the medical supplies, tripping every now and then. "I won't lose to him again." Phantom said as he stared at his hand, summoning a weak blue light that formed a tiny snowflake in his hand, his head already pounding at the miniscule use of his abilities. "I can't or I'll be subjected to that hell again." He muttered as he too disappeared into the shadows.

TeenTitans

A.N. That was interesting to write and I wonder what's up with Danny, why did he truly leave Vlad? You'll just have to wait to find out now, won't you?


	3. A Costly Mistake

Chapter Three

A Costly Mistake

His head was pounding and his body ached like no other, but he knew that he was otherwise unhurt and that he would be alright. He groaned though as he slowly opened his eyes, the sun shining in his face as he woke up, moving his hands to push himself up. "Gah, what the heck happened?" He muttered as he looked around the hallway he was in, catching sight of Starfire that was just waking up as well.

"We were knocked out." Robin blinked as he sat up and looked at the ghost that was now floating in front of him and his eyes glowing furiously crimson. "The little badger has upgraded his moves and tricks; he'll be harder to catch than what I thought before." He said as he turned at the awakening group of Titans. "We'll have to come up with a plan to catch him."

Plasmius went to leave, but a black sphere surrounded him as he tried to leave, stunning him slightly as he hadn't expected it. "You aren't going anywhere!" Raven exclaimed angrily as she held her head and stood in front of her sphere, one hand on her head and her own eyes glowing crimson. "You aren't telling us something!"

Vlad frowned at the girl that was holding him captive, but none of the Titans moved to stop her, already knowing that it would be almost impossible when she was like this. "I told you what you needed to know to stop him, I owe you nothing else." Vlad replied as he turned intangible to try and get out, only to find that he couldn't. "Let me go." He growled in his throat.

Raven shook her head at him as her eyes flashed crimson again. "That boy is willing to do anything to get away from you, most likely even kill us if he has too. He refuses to go back with and not to mention I think I know what makes you similar to him." She announced as she squeezed the sphere smaller until Plasmius's head popped out of it. Vlad gasped as the sphere squeezed his body, but his head and throat were left untouched.

"What are you speaking of friend Raven?" Starfire asked as she floated over to her friend, eyes wide with curiosity.

Robin nodded his head in agreement. "What is it exactly that you know that makes him similar to Phantom?" He asked as he looked back at Vlad, who looked like he was concentrating on something.

Raven growled as she pushed more power into her sphere, the black object now sparking with black energy and zapping Vlad sharply. The man cried out in pain as a black ring appeared around his waist, shocking the Titans as they began to move from his waist and outwards, covering his entire body and changing his looks.

"Man, to think that we get all the nut jobs." Cyborg said as he looked at the gray haired man in the black sphere, rubbing his head as he thought about it. "So he's what, alive?"

Beast boy was blinking as he looked at the man, normally he felt an irrational fear towards him, but now there was nothing. "I don't know, but dude, I'm not shaking anymore." The green boy said as he held out his steady hand to prove his point. "He's normal, like a human."

The man groaned as he raised his head, blinking his eyes as he tried to orient himself again. "Butter biscuits." He muttered as he shook his head.

"The blue one is now, um, pale and most human like indeed." Starfire said as she circled him, looking him over and taking in his details.

Robin was quiet as he took in the man's figure, already knowing who he was, but he hadn't said anything since he was still taking in the fact that the man was dead, but he also wasn't. "He's just like Phantom." He muttered as he put a hand to his chin.

Raven nodded her head at his assessment, already knowing what he was thinking. "That's right, he's half dead and half alive. I've read about them in one of my books…"  
"Big surprise there." Beast Boy said with a smirk on his face.

Raven growled at him but otherwise ignored him. "And in it said that they are called Halfas. Beings who walk the line between life and death." She said as she looked at Vlad and saw him glaring at her, his dark blue eyes speaking for him. "There are supposedly only two of them in existence." She said as she looked back towards Robin.

The boy wonder nodded his head at her before looking back at Plasmius. "I say we take him back to Titans Tower with us and question him there." Robin said, the other nodding their heads in agreement. "Raven, get him to the tower, we'll meet you there." And with that the Titans dispersed to meet back up at their home.

TeenTitans

The area was shadowed and hardly anything could be seen, but a figure appeared in the middle of the room, kneeling in front the person hidden in the dark. "You have called me here Phantom, what is it that you wish to discuss?" Slade asked as he appeared in another beam of light, his figure standing straight with his hands behind his back, mask hiding his features.

Danny kept his eyes closed and bowed as he began to speak, hoping he could get away with it. "Master, I wish to go and collect some items, I plan on making something that will keep Vlad Masters out of our base if he ever follows one of us back, maybe even some weapons to be used against him." He said, allowing his raven eyes to showdown his face. "I do not wish for him to come here because of my stupidity Master."

Slade looked down at his apprentice with eyes that spoke of astonishment and pride. He had worked hard the last year and a half to train the boy and improve both his skills in the martial arts and his smarts. The boy had proven to be everything that he had wanted in a student, even if the boy was severely crippled by the last supposed master.

"You have proven to me time and time again how apt you are at the missions I assign you and you do it with little trouble or complaints, unless you run into complications." The Titans had proven to be a worthy opponent for the boy, but Plasmius had been an uncalculated risk and it had proved to be too much for the boy. "I will allow you to get the materials you wish to obtain, but only if you take a team with you this time as back up."

Danny's eyes shot open as he looked at his master, disbelief in his eyes. Had he shown to be too weak to deal with Masters and the Titans alone, had he disappointed his master by not being able to defeat his arch nemesis? "But Master! I can do this by myself, I know I can!" He exclaimed as he stood up, knowing that he had crossed a line, but feeling that he didn't want to disappoint his master again.

Slade's eyes narrowed at the insubordination, but did not call on it since he knew what it was about. The boy was like an open book around him and Slade had quickly learned to read him. "This is not about you being a disappointment." He boomed out, stopping Danny from saying anything else as the boy was in stunned disbelief. "I only wish to see how you do with a team, as a leader. If you can prove to me that you can lead a team of you own, and then I am sure that your failure to beat Masters will be all but forgotten."

Danny blinked in astonishment before a relieved smile fell onto his face and he kneeled back down to his master. "Forgive me for speaking out Master, I do not wish to disappoint is all." He said as he lowered his head even more.

Slade looked down in a smug fashion, his eye sparkling with amusement. "Don't worry, for now, I wish for you to meet your team."

A light appeared and Danny looked over at the three figures standing there, smirking as he had thought the three of them had been in jail, but happy to boss the three idiots around either way. He looked back at Slade and nodded his head. "I will not fail you master."

Slade nodded back before he disappeared into the darkness, "You better not."

TeenTitans

"So, what is one of the richest men in the world playing a dead man?" Cyborg asked as he looked at the information that had been brought up on the huge screen for everyone to see. "Not to mention why he's so intent on getting that kid back."

"Dude! I didn't even think someone as rich as him could even be someone like us!" Beast boy said as he looked at the captured billionaire, who glared at him. "Ha! That can't do anything to me dude! You're in your human form!" At that point Vlad shot beams out of his eyes and at BB, startling the green boy and causing him to jump. "He can shoot lasers out of his eyes!" He said as he hung off of Cyborg.

Cyborg rolled his eyes as he peeled BB off of him quickly and turned back to Raven. "Think you can cover his eyes so he can't do that?" He asked as he pointed towards Vlad.

Raven nodded her head as she pulled up more of her power and wrapped it around the man's head and over his eyes to stop him from doing anything particularly nasty. "I can't hold him like this forever; I will need to release him soon."

Robin nodded his head to show that he heard her, though he was still concentrating on the pictures that were on the screen and the magazines and several other things that they had brought up on Vlad Masters. They had even brought up the information about him being hospitalized after an accident at his old college. "I don't think he's evil." Robin said as he turned towards his team, "But something isn't right about him. What does he want with Phantom?"

Starfire floated over towards Robin laying a hand on his shoulder gently. "Does the once blue one mean harm to the Phantom?" She asked as she turned her green eyes to Vlad, who couldn't see her but was listening to everything they were saying.

"I'm not sure Star, but what Phantom said when we faced him has me worried." Robin said as he leaned back against the computer module and looked at his friends with his arms crossed. "He even said he'd rather go to jail than to return to him."

Cyborg shrugged at that, knowing how some kids just thought their parents were being unfair. "It could be a misunderstanding. I mean most kids are angry at their parents cause they take away their video games, maybe Phantom was mad because Vlad was trying to ground him from his powers."

Robin frowned at that but nodded his head nonetheless. "It could be that, but I still don't know, but until then, we trust him, we just need to watch our backs." Robin said as he looked at Raven and nodded his head. Raven nodded back and released Vlad from his prison, allowing him to land gently onto his feet as he dusted off his suit.

"I wondered when you would release me." He said as he stood back up, his hands behind his back as he looked at the Titans. Robin thought he had seen Slade when Vlad had taken that pose, startling him for a second. "Now if you have felt that you've settled some of your fear, I will be going. I'll drop off the shield tomorrow." Vlad said as he transformed, those black ring reappearing around him and changing him into the blue skinned and red eyed ghost from before. "Ta!" And with that he disappeared.

Robin turned to Beast Boy and watched him closely, seeing how the boy was still shivering for a moment before calming down and relaxing. Beast Boy caught Robin staring and nodded his head, indicating that the man was gone. Robin smiled at him and walked over to him, patting him on the shoulder. "You know, facing your own fear head on and standing your ground is one of the bravest things that I've ever seen. I haven't even done that yet." Robin commented towards BB.

BB's eyes got wide and a smile lit up his face at that before he nodded. "Thanks Robin." He whispered to his friend before he ran off towards Cyborg, yelling at him to play a video game with.

Robin laughed at his friend before he turned to head towards his room to go over the information that he had there, but was stopped when Raven appeared in front of him. He raised an eyebrow at her and waited for her to say what was on her mind. "Phantom is not an enemy." She said, startling Robin for several moments. "He is just following the one who saved him."

Robin blinked at that and wondered how much she had gotten from the boy, especially since he was the only who knew that Raven could feel the emotions of another that was feeling something strong enough to bleed into what she called auras. "What are you talking about Raven, you can't possibly say that he is only following Slade because…"

"That's exactly what I'm saying Robin. That boy is suffering from an emotional breakdown and my best guess is that Slade found him when he was suffering the most. Slade is the one that brought that boy back to a semblance of normalcy, even if it is as a criminal." Raven said as she glared at the floor. "I'm not sure if we'll be able to help him from the dark place he's in. He's too dependent on Slade to be that missing parent."

Robin gulped at that, wondering what exactly they were going to do now. "If he's in as deep as you think he is, then what will it take to get him away from Slade?" Robin dreaded what Raven would say next, mostly because he was sure that it wouldn't be good.

Raven looked at Robin with serious eyes and opened her mouth to tell…

The alarm system went off.

"Robin! It's Gizmo and his little friends! They've hit one of the titanium houses!" Cyborg said as he looked at his leader.

Robin nodded his head and turned towards his awaiting teammates that were waiting for the orders. "Titans Go!" And with that they were off towards the Titanium house, hoping that they would not be too late. "We'll finish our conversation later Raven." Robin said as he took off for his bike, Raven nodding her head as she got into the T-Car with Cyborg and BB, taking off as soon all the doors were shut and seatbelts buckled.

"Any idea why they would be attacking a titanium store house?" Robin said over the communicator, his mind racing with different possibilities. "Why would the H.I.V.E. want the titanium, what could they possibly make out of that?"

Cyborg growled over the radio, his mind going back to his time with Brother Blood, who hadn't been caught yet and had disappeared a while after the whole Titan East debacle. "You don't think Brother Blood has something to do with this, do you Robin?" He called over, his hands tightening onto the steering wheel.

"I don't know Cy, but if he does, then I'll put you in charge, until we find out though you will do as you are told." Robin said as he turned down an ally and skidded to a stop in front of the storage house, a small pile of titanium in front of it with Jinx standing there, smiling at him as if she was expecting him.

"Bout time you got here, I've been waiting for you." She said as she sends a bolt of purple power at Robin, who jumped off of his bike just in time for it to explode as it was hit by the energy. "You know I'm on a schedule and I'm not quite sure that Slade would like us to be late."

Robin's eyes widened at Slade's name, but he quickly threw his helmet away and pulled out the Master Staff, already knowing that when Slade was mentioned, then Phantom wasn't far behind. "Where is he Jinx? I know he's here, so where is he?"

Jinx smiled innocently as she put her hands behind her back as she bounced on her feet. "I don't know who you're talking about bird brain." She said as she flicked her hand and another ray went flying at Robin again, which he expertly dodged by side stepping.

"Give it up Jinx, you won't win!" Robin said as he threw a birdarang at her that exploded just a little ways away from her, throwing her back. "I won't let you get away with anything!" Robin yelled as he ran towards her, but Jinx quickly jumped onto her feet and ran into the store house, most likely going to go meet up with her team.

"Hey Robin, don't start the party without us!" Cyborg called as he pulled up and got out of the car, Raven and BB right behind him.

"Yes, do not leave us out of the whooping of the buttocks!" Starfire exclaimed as she came and landed next to the team, smiling as she said this.

The team looked at her funnily for a second before shaking their heads and getting to business. "Alright then, Cyborg, you and BB will take Mammoth on while Starfire will take Jinx and Raven you'll take Gizmo." Robin said as he moved towards the two large doors of the store house.

"Robin, what about you, who will you fight?" Starfire asked as she watched him walk away.

Robin stopped as he looked over his shoulder at his team who were watching him closely. "I'm taking care of the leader of this raid." He said as he began to run towards the warehouse. "Titans move out!" He yelled just as he disappeared into the shadows of the warehouse.

"Leader? I thought Jinx was the leader of the three." BB said as he scratched his head in confusion, not feeling anything weird at the moment.

Raven was watching the spot that Robin had been in before shaking her head, getting rid of the notion that they had missed something when Robin's bike had been destroyed. "Well, whatever, we have our orders so let's move it ya'll!" Cyborg yelled as he took off, BB right behind him as he ran into the warehouse as well.

Raven sighed as she sunk into the ground and Starfire soon followed in, both girls ignoring the feeling that Robin was hiding something from them.

TeenTitans

"Are they coming?"

Jinx quickly nodded her head at the raven haired boy and smiled at him creepily. "They fell for it hook line and sinker." She said as she giggled.

"They're a bunch of snot rags; of course they fell for it!" Gizmo shouted as he fiddled with one of his machines. "They aren't that smart ya know."

Jinx scowled at him in annoyance, but she kept her mouth shut at one look from the boy that came with them told her that he wasn't in the mood for a bicker between them. "When are they getting here!? I'm getting bored!" Mammoth yelled as he hit one of the crates that were to the side. "They're taking forever."

"Calm down, they'll be here soon so you need to be patient." Phantom said as he jumped from the pile of crates that were hidden in the dark. "They are after all the Teen Titans and won't leave us be until we defeat them." He explained as he reached into one of the pockets on his belt, pulling out three marbles. "Like the bird that's spying on us." He announced as he threw the marbles to the ground and a bright flash of light blinded Robin from his place in the rafters.

Once he had his eyesight back, he saw that the four teens had disappeared and he looked around, wondering where they had gone. "What? Where are they?" Robin muttered as he looked around.

"Right behind you." A voice whispered and Robin's eyes widened just as a steel toed boot slammed into his back and sent him flying into the spot where the four had just been. Robin easily flipped onto his feet and pulled out the Master Staff, ready to fight the other teen. "That won't help you, I'm not a ghost."

Robin's eyes narrowed as he looked around for the boy, wondering what he was talking about. "How is that? You have ghost powers, just like Masters does." He said as he closed his eyes, listening for the soft steps of the teen.

"So you found out about Vlad huh, that he's half ghost then?" Danny asked, making sure that his voice sounded as if it was echoing around the area. "Did he tell you anything else?" He asked curiously, wondering if Vlad was in jail or at least badly beaten at the moment.

Robin's brows furrowed but he kept his eyes closed, concentrating. "No he didn't, and we only found out because Raven forced him to change." He said as he tilted his head to the side, thinking that he just heard a snarl over there.

"So he didn't tell you what he did to me, did he?" The snarl was unmistakable as well as the anger. "He didn't tell you anything that he did to me whatsoever!?" The anger was apparent this time around along with the hatred. "He's the reason why I'm human again!"

Robin's eyes snapped open just in time to block the staff that was about to slam into his head, he was staring in astonishment at the boy in front of him, the boy's eyes glowing a iridescent green in the darkened room. "I don't know what he did to you, but working for Slade isn't going to help anything, he'll only use you and get rid of you as soon as you are of no use to him anymore." Danny growled in annoyance as he swiped his staff at Robin's feet, the boy wonder jumping over it and swinging his towards Phantom's head, the raven haired teen ducking quickly.

"He's the only one who even looked at me when I ran away from Plasmius!" Phantom yelled as he back flipped away from the boy wonder. "If he hadn't found me when he did I'd be dead!"

Robin blinked in astonishment at Phantom, wondering what the hell this kid had been through. Either way he had a job to do so with newly found determination he narrowed his eyes and forced more power into his swing. Phantom's eyes widened in surprise before he smirked and he began to fight back with just as much ferocity, slashing his staff to slam into Robin's side, but Robin blocked it with his own staff and then using his weapon to jump off the ground and kicking Phantom in the stomach.

Phantom cried out in surprise and pain as the toe still boots connected with his middle and since he was off balanced, Robin took advantage and quickly kicked the other's feet out from under him and using his staff to slam him into the ground. Phantom gave a gurgled gasp as his back and head met the ground, stunning him and his staff falling from his hands. Robin panted from exertion and stood back up, looking down at Phantom.

"Slade will drop you as soon as you are of no use to him." Robin said once he got his breath back. "He's only using you to get what he wants." He continued as he stood over the fallen teen, hoping that he was getting through to him. "Your only a tool and that's all you'll ever be to him."

Phantom had his eyes closed as he listened to Robin, knowing that the other was right, but frankly, he could give a rat's ass. He wasn't about to betray the only one who ever helped him when he was kicked down, the one who saved his life when he was close to really dying, the one who actually gave him a reason to live again. He didn't care that it was most likely costing him a lot more than he had to give, but he wasn't about to let what he had been able to grasp a hold of go after all of that work.

"You don't understand." Phantom gasped out as he clenched his hands into fists and then released and then clenched them again. "He gave me something to live for again." He said as he opened his eyes, eyes glowing green and white streaks appearing in his hair. Robin blinked in surprise at the change, but gasped as the room seemed to fall in temperature. "I will never betray the man who gave me my life back!" Phantom yelled as green energy poured from his mouth, slamming into Robin and throwing the teen back with ferocious force.

The sound echoed around the storage building and soon it began to fall apart, beams coming loose and falling to the ground, bolts breaking, walks and ceiling cracking, the floor ripped up from where it had been laid and flying in the air. Robin didn't stand a chance against this power and was soon out like a light before he even hit the floor.

TeenTitans

"Come on Snot for Brains, I thought you were smarter than that!" Cyborg growled low in his throat as Gizmo jumped in front of him, laying down little robotic spiders that crawled at him with crazy speed.

"I don't think so!" The half human half robot yelled as he transformed his arm and shot a blast at the spiders, gasping when they exploded and sent him flying into crates. "Man, when did he learn to do that!?"

"I don't know dude, but how come we're fighting him? I thought we were supposed to fight the big guy, not the small fry." Beast Boy said as he landed next to Cyborg after jumping down from a stack of crates.

Cyborg growled as he thought back to when they started, wondering how they had indeed fooled the Teen Titans like they had. "I'm not quite sure BB, but I think Gizmo used holograms to fool us. That was then though, we'll just have to deal with it the best we can for right now." He said as he stood back up, looking for the little turd that had taken off again. "Now where did that gnome go to?"

"Right here Snot Brains!" Cyborg yelped as Gizmo landed on his back, the little brat moving to open Cyborg up and hack into him like he had before.

"Not this time shrimp!" BB yelled as he transformed into a wolf and grabbed a hold of him by his shirt back and quickly leapt away from Cyborg, dropping the brat onto the ground. "I'm not letting you hack into my buddy!"

Gizmo groaned and rubbed his butt as he looked at the two, before smiling as he pulled down the skin under one of his eyes and jumped up and to the side. "Uh, okay, what was that about?" Cyborg asked as BB shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. It was only a moment later when Cyborg felt something slam into him and yelling in fright he slammed into BB, both getting thrown into crates.

"Anyone get the number of that truck?" BB asked as he pulled himself from under the crates, looking over to what had hit them and finding Starfire lying not too far from Cyborg. "Hey Star, are you okay?" He asked as he ran over to help her up.

"I am fine Friend Beast Boy, but the large one hit me with the stick of metal." Starfire explained what had happened as she stood up with the help of BB.

"Well, that Beam most likely is broken in half now, you hit like a wall of still." Cyborg comment as he stood up too. "I don't think I've been hit like that in a while."

BB nodded his head as Starfire rubbed her arm nervously, but all three stopped when Raven came flying in the area, skidding on the ground and coming to a stop in front of her friends. "Yo Raven! Good to see you in one piece!" BB said as he patted her on the shoulder.

Raven glared at him and raised a shield to stop the purple energy that was heading right at her. "What are you doing? Quit messing around and get back to work." She said and stood up straight, ignoring the looks that she was receiving from her friends, her temper already worn from Jinx who had been nothing but a pain. She had tried taking the girl out quickly so she could help her friends, but her plans had been delayed when Jinx had used on of the titanium piles to slam right into her.

Starfire looked at her friend in worry and put a hand on her shoulder, get the bluenette's attention. "We are trying, but we are being out smarted by them." She said as her emerald eyes showed the truth. "Please calm down."

Raven huffed in aggravation, but otherwise she took a deep breath and pulled in her anger, knowing it would only get her into trouble. "They've already tricked us once; we can't let them do it again." She said as she pulled her hood back up over her head.

The other three nodded their heads in agreement just as the three H.I.V.E. students reappeared around them, all of them smirking as they held a metal ball in their hands. "We got ya right where we want you." Jinx said as she pressed a button on the ball and dropped it.

"Snot Rags fell for it again." Gizmo laughed as he did the same with his own metal ball.

"This was almost too easy." Mammoth said as he too followed his companions example and soon the Titans were in what seemed to be a red triangle holding them in place.

"What is this thing?!" BB yelled as he touched it, he was electrocuted on cue and thrown back and caught by Starfire, who looked at him worriedly. "Wow, that was shocking."

Cyborg and Raven rolled their eyes at their friend before turning to the force field. "Think you can get us out of here Raven?" Cyborg asked as he began to type something onto his arm computer.

Raven nodded and went to summon up her power, only to be stopped by Starfire, who was hovering over Beast Boy worriedly. "What is wrong Beast Boy, why are you shivering like the Snorklacks in winter?" She asked and indeed Beast Boy was shivering, Raven was sure that if he was some sort of animal at the moment his tail would be between his legs.

"He's here." BB said as he looked around the area, fear glowing in his eyes.

Cyborg blinked in surprise and looked at Raven, both of them nodding in confirmation of a plan. Cyborg quickly tapped something onto his communicator installed into his arms but before it could start ringing a terrible sound and green energy appeared.

"What's going on?" Jinx yelled outside of the field, looking around as things began to fall apart.

"I don't know but I think this is our cue to grab the items and run!" Gizmo replied as he tapped a button on his controller and began to move, Mammoth right behind him.

Jinx stayed long enough to wink at the Titans before taking off after her friends so they could go and get the Titanium and leave. The Titans were all looking at the energy that was washing over the energy field, disbelief that they weren't feeling the attack since it was apparent that the surrounding area was. "This has to be Phantom's doing." Raven said as she looked at the shaking Beast Boy, this proving her theory more or less.

"I agree, which means that Robin was apparently the one fighting him." Cyborg said as he looked around, watching as a part of the ceiling began to crack over their heads. "Um, Raven, now would be a good time to get us out of here!" He said as he pointed at the ceiling.

Raven's eyes widened and she nodded quickly and summoned her power, teleporting her friends and herself outside of the building just as it fell apart. "I don't know what exactly that was, but it was powerful." Raven said as she looked around the area, looking for the three criminals and Robin.

"Where is Robin?" Starfire asked the question for Raven, looking around in concern, especially at the collapsed storage building. "Robin! Where are you Robin!?" Starfire called out, floating over the building and calling for her friend, hoping beyond hope that he was alright.

Beast Boy was quick to follow as was Cyborg and Raven, all of them not wanting to lose their friend now after everything they'd been through. They quickly spread out over the area, calling for their friend and Beast Boy sniffing him out as a blood hound. "Robin!" Starfire called out again and then she saw it, a piece of rock moving back and forth, as if someone was trying to get out. "Robin!" Starfire cried out with a little bit of excitement as she dove down to the moving piece.

Starfire quickly moved the rock out of the way, looking down at the figure with a wide smile, but her smile disappeared when she realized that Robin wasn't alone. "We need to get Phantom to the Tower! I don't think he has much time!" Robin yelled in a panic as he hauled Phantom out of the hole they had been in, the other boy a deadly white and hardly breathing.

TeenTitans

A.N. ….Does anyone want to tell what the hell I just wrote! …..I'm kinda terrified now that I got to this point, especially since my plans are starting to go all according to plan, but this is only the start. Be prepared cause more pains and tortures are going to start coming to the surface.

Please Review and tell me what you thought, and can anyone guess what exactly is wrong with Danny? Though I doubt any of you will be right cause what I came up with is just sick and wrong in all ways. Hoped you enjoyed! Bye!


	4. Unbelievable, Slade Did What?

Chapter Four

Unbelievable, Slade Did What?

The area was nothing but darkness, three figures cowering within its welcoming embrace as they tried to hide from the man that was currently furious with them. To say that hiding wasn't working would be a bit of an understatement, it was currently being used against them.

"We need to get out of here!" Jinx yelled as she tried to dodge on of the hits with the staff that Slade favored. "We aren't going to last much longer." She said as Gizmo cried out in pain from a whack to the head. "Gizmo!"

"He's fine, I got him!" Mammoth called as he cradled his little buddy to his chest and protected him from most of the attacks. "Jinx, do something!"

Jinx panicked at that moment, knowing for a fact that they weren't going to last any longer, especially with Gizmo out of the game. "Sorry about this Mammoth." Jinx called as she began to gather power into her hands, ignoring the hits the best she could as she continued to call everything into her hands. Once she was sure that she held enough in her hands she quickly released it out of her body and into the surrounding area, illuminating everything.

Slade snarled at the bad luck witch released power that hit his building, causing it to shake in its foundation. He smirked though when his building held together and the backup generators kicked in and the protected lights activated after her power trip. "Though it was a commendable attempt, it will not work. I've built this place up to withstand Phantom's most powerful attack. Your pitiful power won't be able to do anything to it." He said with pride in his voice as he stood up straight, his hands coming to a rest behind his back.

Jinx panted as she feel to her knees, clutching at her arm as she looked up at the older man, who was now glaring at her and her fallen teammates. Mammoth was still cradling the unconscious Gizmo in his slack hands, his breathing was unsteady and blood trickled down the giant's face. Jinx herself wasn't doing the best either with blood on her cheek and several different bruises and cuts littering her body.

"We tried Slade, we really did, but there was nothing we could do!" Jinx shouted as Slade lowered his staff back towards her, lifting her chin into the air. A sob choked its way out of Jinx as tears filled her pink eyes, terror fighting in her being to either lash out or flee. "They got him before we could get anywhere near him!"

Slade's eye was filled with rage as he looked at the teenager, wondering what he was going to do with her now that she had lost him his prized pupil. "You left him to face Robin by himself when I specifically told you not to allow him to fight Robin by himself! He was still crippled with his last fight with the boy earlier!" Slade shouted as he hit Jinx and sent her flying into her teammates, knocking her out.

Slade snarled as he stalked away from them, his anger growing when he realized that Phantom was nowhere to be seen still, causing his anger to grow even more. "Useless teenagers! They can't do anything they are told!" He yelled as he punched a metal barrel, causing it to explode from the force that he used. "I only have one choice left."

Slade walked over to a shelf and popped it open, pulling out different kinds of devices that he knew he would need, especially if what his monitors on Phantom said were true, he'd need to heal his apprentice. "I am not about to lose a student who is willingly staying, someone who is so mindlessly in my control! I cannot allow that student to just waltz right out!" Slade shouted as he slammed his hand onto the table, cracking it down the middle.

He clipped his belt around his shoulder and made sure it hugged his chest as it fell against his body, he checked to make sure his utility belt was on properly before double checking that he had his knives in his boots. "I'm coming Phantom, I won't let you slip through my fingers."

TeenTitans

Robin stared down at the figure on the bed, wondering what exactly the other teen had done back at the storage facility. He had used some sort of sonic wave that had knocked Robin out, but it seemed to have had an adverse effect in using it. "What is going on?" Robin muttered as he looked over the boy's vitals for the millionth time that hour.

Phantom was in a somewhat stable condition, his body temperature being a few degrees over normal and his breathing unsteady and a breathing mask over his mouth to help him breathe easier, but otherwise fine. The only other things that were wrong with him were that he was unconscious and extremely pale. Robin could only guess that this was the effects of using such a powerful attack in his human form that was unaccustomed to the strain, thus tearing him apart on the inside.

"I see that you've caught him." Robin blinked as he whipped around, the Master Staff just stopping inches from Vlad's blue face and widened eyes. "I didn't mean to startle you my good lad." Vlad said as he floated backwards from the Titan.

Robin sighed as he put the staff away, looking at the blue man and then at the metal device that was held in the gloved hands, Robin's eyebrows rose at the device. "Its fine, is that the ghost shield you said you'd have for us?" Robin asked as he held out his hand for the device.

Vlad nodded his head and handed it over. "Be sure to tell you friend that the device is quite simple to install, all you have to do is connect it with your normal security system and put Ghost File 2253 into the system and just voice the command when you want it on or to turn it off." Vlad explained as he floated closer to the bed, looking at the unconscious figure. "Is he alright?" Vlad asked as he reached over and ran a hand through the boy's hair in a tender and fatherly way.

Robin nodded his head as he looked at the device distractedly. "He took some heavy damage in a battle with me just a couple days ago when he was trying to rob a titanium store house with one of the H.I.V.E.'s teams." Robin said as he tapped at the device carefully before he turned towards Vlad. "He hasn't woken since and he hasn't improved any since we brought him here. Whatever that attack did to him it affected him more than what he could handle."

Vlad blinked and looked at the Titan, red eyes glowing curiously and his hands falling behind his back from habit. "What attack are you talking about exactly?" Vlad asked as he glanced at Phantom with worried eyes.

Robin put a hand to his chin as he held the elbow to the hand with his free hand, eyes closed as he thought about the attack. "It started out with green waves that erupted from his mouth and then this wail. It was loud and it had a ferocious power that knocked me back into a wall and collapsed the entire storage house. He's lucky I was able to get to him before the building collapsed or he would have died from one of the building's beams crushing him." Robin stated as he looked back towards Vlad, only to blink in surprise.

Vlad's entire face had gone from blue to white, eyes widened in astonishment and his hands fisted behind his back so tight that green and red began to ooze between his fingered gloves. "He used his wail? You should be dead then." Vlad stated as he looked at the boy wonder again, this time noting the bruises and cuts the other had. "It was obviously weakened if he was in his human form, but still, for him to be able to use it at all is amazing. Consider the circumstances."

Robin stared in shock at the other man before looking back at Phantom, eyes narrowed this time in thought. "When we were looking him over when we brought him in, there was a strange cut on his chest, as if he had some kind of surgery." Robin returned his gaze to Vlad and watched as Vlad's jaw clenched and his shoulders stiffened. "He said that he wasn't a ghost in the storage house when I fought him and then he also told me you were a villain back at Wayne enterprise." Robin stated as he moved between Vlad and Phantom.

Vlad's eyes narrowed as he glared at the boy wonder, hoping this wasn't going where he thought it was going. "My dear boy, what are you saying?" Vlad asked with a tight smile on his face as he watched Robin slip a hand into his utility belt. "You can't be suggesting that I did that to him, are you?"

Robin wasn't sure what it was about the older man, but a chill ran up his spine and he pulled out his Master Staff, activating the Specter Deflector around his waist at the same time, intent on stopping the other from approaching the boy. "I don't know what to think, but it's obvious that he has suffered enough." Robin said as he slashed the staff at Vlad, only to have the other fly backwards away from him. "I can't in good conscious all him to go anywhere with you until you prove you aren't a danger to him."

Vlad snarled at the boy wonder, already knowing that he had just screwed himself over tremendously. The boy wonder was a master at martial arts and could most likely beat him in skill if nothing else. With the anti-ghost weapons that the boy had too had put him at an even bigger disadvantage, he wouldn't be able to grab Daniel and flee without critically injuring himself in the process, so he did the only other thing that was sensible.

He backed down and nodded his head at the boy wonder, already planning different ways at getting Daniel without getting caught. "I understand, shall I leave until you have proven that I am no danger?" Vlad asked as he looked at the raven teen hero.

Robin stared at him critically before nodding his head. "Don't return until we have called you." Robin commanded as he lowered the staff to his side. "Once I'm sure that Phantom would be safe with you, I'll call you and release him to your custody." Robin pointed towards the window in the medical bay with the staff as he glared at Vlad. "Now leave before I make you."

Vlad growled in annoyance but otherwise obeyed and left the area, going invisible as soon as possible. It was about this time that BB arrived in the room, his body shaking in fear as he looked at Robin. "He's here!" He shouted in fear and Robin nodded his head.

"I know."

"Oh." BB said as he looked around the room, knowing that Vlad would be in the room since Robin knew, but he didn't see him, but he still felt him. "He hasn't left though."

Robin's eyes narrowed as he pulled out his communicator and pressed a button, a picture of Cyborg appearing on the screen. "Yo, Robin! What can I do for you man?" The half robot teen asked with a smile on his face.

Robin nodded his head with a smile on his face before it returned to a serious mode. "I just got that shield form Vlad Masters, if you'll come up to the medical bay and pick it up and install it that would be great."

Cyborg's smile faded as Robin's own did and he nodded at the request. "I'll be there in a flash." With that Cyborg closed his communicator, on his way up to the medical bay.

In the meantime Beast Boy stayed with Robin, still shaking as he felt Plasmius still in the area, unsure of where, but knowing that he was there none the less. "Maybe we should get Raven; I mean she is after all the ghost expert around here." He suggested to Robin as he looked around the room again.

Robin absently nodded his head as he looked over Phantom again, making sure that he was alright and that he hadn't worsened with Plasmius in the room. "Good idea Beast Boy, why don't you go and get her." He said as he adjusted the IV connected to Phantom before picking up his chart again.

BB was quick to nod his head and disappear out of the room, running to get Raven quickly before anything else happened. "Hey Robin, where's this supposed shield you got for me?" Cyborg asked only minutes after BB had left, looking at his friend.

Robin turned and smiled at him as he picked the device up off of the side table that he had set it on when he began to look Phantom over. "Here, this is it and Masters told me that you'll need to hook it up to the security and then use the code Ghost Files 2253 into the system, from there we should be able to turn it on with a simple command." Robin said as Cyborg took the device, the other teen nodding his head at this information.

"Alright, I'll get this hooked up and we should be ready to go. Do you want me to turn it on as soon as it's installed?" Cyborg asked curiously as he looked at Robin, eyes completely serious as he asked this.

Robin nodded his head without a second though, knowing that that would be best to keep Phantom safe from Vlad for the time being. "That would be a good idea. I don't know what to make of Masters yet. Something just isn't right with him." Robin said as he turned to look at Phantom again, eyes narrowed.

Cyborg sighed as he looked at his leader, already knowing what was going on. "You're going to get obsessed again Robin." Cyborg said as he turned to leave the room. "Try not to become a nutcase again if you do." He disappeared once his piece was said, leaving Robin to think of his friend's words.

"What are we going to do now?" Robin muttered to himself as he closed his eyes and rubbed at his forehead, a migraine forming between his eyes.

"How about give my apprentice back." Robin's eyes widened at the voice before he felt a pain in the middle of his back that sent him flying across the room.

The boy wonder controlled his flight enough to be able to land with his feet against the wall and flip onto his feet on the floor. Robin snarled at the figure that stood on the other side of the unconscious teen, anger pooling in Robin's stomach. "Slade!"

TeenTitans

Cyborg hummed to himself as he quickly hooked the device up, knowing that the sooner he had this up, the safer they would be from ghostly threats and most like Phantom himself if he ever got away. "Only if it actually works on him." Cyborg snorted as he thought about how all the other ghost equipment had minimal if no affects whatsoever on the other boy. "He's almost indestructible, almost like Robin." He said to himself as he stopped hooking the device up and looked at his hands.

"Someone who can actually equal Robin in skill." Cyborg muttered. "Never thought that would happen." He returned to hooking the device up, knowing that he was starting to get a little depressed now that he realized that they weren't the best out there. He snorted again as he thought about the bigger group and more experience heroes that had their headquarters in space. "Yeah, I already knew we weren't the best." Cyborg muttered as he hooked the last wire up and replaced the panel into the wall.

"There, now it should work just fine." He said smugly as he opened up his control panel on his arm and typed the command it, the sound of gears whirring instantly sounded and he knew that the shield was up and running. "Ha! No one knows this tower as good as I do!" He yelled in excitement, pumping his fists into the air.

That was about the time an explosion echoed in the tower, startling him from his triumphant state. "Intruder alert, intruder alert, intruder alert." The Security system said as Cyborg started to type commands into his arm panel again. "Medical Bay breach, one entity detected." The system spat out quickly and Cyborg was moving faster than he thought he could.

On the way up to medical bay he met up with Raven and Beast Boy, both who were already heading up to meet Robin anyways. None of them spoke as they moved, more explosions rocking the tower as they hurried to help their friend, unsure if it was Phantom or someone else here to take the Titans on.

Another explosion sounded just a floor above, the ceiling cracking and falling in as a body slammed in front of them. "Robin!" Cyborg yelled as he ran forward and helped his friend stand up. "You alright man?"

Robin coughed several times before waving his hand and nodding his hand. "I'm fine, but we need to get back up there! Give me a lift Cy!" Robin said fast and Cyborg instantly laced his fingers together and launched the boy wonder through the hole he created and soon followed when BB turned into a pterodactyl to fly him up, Raven already up there.

"No way!" BB exclaimed as he looked at the man that was standing there, waiting for them with a staff in his hands and several other weapons strapped onto him via a belt. "How'd did Slade get into the tower?"

Cyborg growled and turned his arm into his cannon instantly, knowing that this man was dangerous and so he was not to hold back. "I don't know, but he'll get a one way ticket out of here." He said as he shot at the man, only to gap as Slade jumped out of the way of the beam, taking that chance to throw a bead at Cyborg. Cyborg flinched as he waited for something to happen, but when nothing did, he laughed. "Ha! You threw a dud old man!"

Slade chuckled as he landed on the floor with such a grace that it was obvious that he had been doing this for years. "Oh, did I?"

Cyborg blinked at that and then yelled in pain as the bead explodes in front of him, sending him flying backwards and into Beast Boy.

Robin growled at Slade as he jumped over his flying friends and at Slade, trying to hit the elder man with his Master Staff, knowing the anti-ghost equipment wouldn't hurt the man but that the hit itself just might.

Slade smirked to himself as he blocked the attack with his own staff, going to sweep the boy's feet out from under him, but Robin jumped over it, only to get a kick to the stomach that sent him sliding across the floor.

"How sad Robin, I expected so much more from you since, but it seems you've been slacking in your training." Slade said as he stood up straight and glared at the Titans. "You've all grown weak and complacent. No real challenge over the last couple of years has weakened your resolve and you power."

That was about the time he was slammed from behind with black energy. "Think again." Raven said as she summoned more power. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" A ball of power flew towards Slade who ducked underneath it and ran at Raven, ready to hit her with his staff, only to be hit behind again with green energy this time.

"Leave friend Raven alone!" Starfire commanded as she came flying down the hall, power radiating from her hands and eyes.

Slade growled in irritation as he had to dodge both Starfire and Raven's long distance attacks, and was quickly having to take out Robin, Cyborg, and Beast Boy while doing all of that. "I don't have time for this!" Slade growled as he slammed another bead onto the ground, this time black smoke encompassing them all.

"Get to the medical bay!" Robin commanded as he moved to do just that, only to be kicked into the head and sent flying.

"I think not Robin, my apprentice would not like your presence at this time, I'm sure." He stated as he slammed his staff into Robin's side, knocking air out of the other's lungs before flying down the hall to beat the rest of the Titans to the room.

"Robin! Are you alright?" Starfire asked as she came across Robin in the smoke, stopping to help him up as Cyborg and Beast Boy ran pass to catch up to Slade.

Robin gasped in a breath before nodding his head at Starfire with a smile. "I'm fine, let's go." He said as Starfire released him and grabbed him by his arms, flying them out of the smoke quickly and towards the open Medical Bay door.

Just as they entered the room, they were sent flying back out of it as Cyborg and Beast Boy both slammed into them, crying out in pain as they slammed into the wall across from them. "Ugh, what happened?" Robin asked as he pulled himself out from beneath the robotic Teen on top of him.

"Slade hit BB into me with inhuman power." Cyborg said as he pushed the dazed green boy off of him and stood up. "Raven's in there with a shield around Phantom, keeping Slade out for now, but he's hitting that thing with some ferocious power." Cyborg explained as he began to look worried. "I don't think she'll be able to keep it up for long."

Robin nodded his head as he turned towards the door, Starfire already up and looking after Beast Boy in her concern way for friends. "Alright, we better go and help her than while Starfire takes care of Beast Boy out here." He said as he ran into the room, just in time to see Slade slam another hit on Raven's shield.

Cyborg right behind him quickly pulled his Sonic Cannon out and aimed it at Slade, slamming the man into the wall away from Raven. "Boo ya! That's for hitting me with those fake duds!" Cyborg yelled in triumph.

Robin rolled his eyes as he raced towards Slade, swinging his staff in hand, only to gasp as Slade grabbed the staff with his hands and looked up at Robin with a glare. "I think playtimes over." The man muttered as he took a firm hold on Robin's weapon and swung Robin into the wall with a sickening crack.

Cyborg's eyes widened at that and glared at the man. "You're going down." Cyborg said as he charged at the man, cannon pointing at them man as he fired it. Slade snorted and dodged the blasts from Cyborg, easily slipping behind the teen and hacking into his systems, shutting him down. "Not again." Cyborg was able to mutter before he shut down completely.

Raven stared in horror at the man as he came up to her, pure and unadulterated hatred in his eyes as he picked up his staff again. "You can either do this the easy way or the hard way, either way, I'll be taking him with me." Slade said as he prepared to attack Raven again.

Raven's own eyes narrowed as she looked at Slade, shaking her head. "You'll be doing that over my dead body." She announced as she widened her stance and put everything into her shield.

Slade's eye narrowed at that but nodded his head. "That can be arranged." Raven blinked in surprise as she realized that Slade hadn't said that. Slade had realized that someone had spoken as well and both were surprise with what happened next.

From Slade's vantage point he saw green energy appear behind the girl before it slammed into her and sent her flying and screaming to the ground in front of him. Raven only felt the pain and surprise from behind as she was soon knocked out.

Slade looked back towards the bed where his apprentice was shakily standing, face pale and the breathing mask still over his face. He was shirtless and only wore the black spandex that went with his armor, the scar on his chest clear for everyone to see. But what really caught Slade's attention was the shakiness in the teen's body as he leaned against the bed to stand.

Phantom looked at his master with deadened eyes and Slade realized what was going to happen as he quickly moved forward and caught the teen before he fell to the ground. "Idiot Apprentice." Slade muttered as he quickly unhooked the boy from the machines and lifted him into his arms, grabbing hold of the oxygen mask and removing it quickly.

Robin groaned in his corner as he looked up towards where Slade now held Phantom in his arms, moving to leave the Medical Bay and the Tower. "You're not going to get away with this." Robin said as he climbed to his knees shakily, knowing he wouldn't be able to take Slade right now in his condition.

Slade looked at him over his shoulder, as if smirking at him. "Oh but I already have Robin." He finished as he released his Apprentice with one hand and reached down to his belt, pushing a button and disappearing from sight.

Robin gaped at the spot that Slade had been before cursing out loud, standing up slowly and walking over to Cyborg, quickly restarting him before moving over to Raven to make sure she was alright.

"Ugh." She moaned as she sat up onto her knees, rubbing her head as she looked over her shoulder. "He got me from behind." She said as Robin stared at the hole to her cape that showed milky white skin underneath. "Phantom hit me." She explained to Robin.

The boy wonder blinked in surprise before nodding. "How though, I thought he was out." He asked as he looked at the bed that held the other boy.

"Must've woken from all the commotion." She said as she stood up with the help from Robin.

"I've been hacked again!" Cyborg yelled in anger as he looked at the two. "That's been like three times now! I'm getting really tired of this!" He complained and Raven rolled her eyes as Robin helped her sit on one of the medical beds.

"Four." She muttered as Cyborg stared at her startled. "Plasmius hacked you, remember." This caused Cyborg's brow to twitch in irritation.

"Ugh, Slade really slammed me hard this time." Beast Boy groaned as Starfire helped him into the room, blood running down the side of his head as both he and Starfire stared at the damage to the room and the fact that neither Slade nor Phantom were there anymore. "Dude, I think we lost this round." He stated as he sat on the same bed that Raven was sitting on.

"You're actually right for once." Raven said as she winced from Robin using rubbing alcohol on her burnt back.

Beast Boy glared at her at the moment, but flinched as well when he felt Starfire applying rubbing alcohol to his own wound that was located on his forehead at the time.

"Neither of you need to get started." Robin said as he quickly bandaged Raven's wound with gauze and tape before nodding at his handy work. "We've been hit hard and we can't expect to win them all." He said as he looked at his team, Starfire now wrapping a bandage around Beast Boy's head.

Cyborg frowned at that and crossed his arms. "We should be able to by now; I mean we've been doing this for how long exactly?" He asked as he looked at Robin, brow raised.

Robin sighed as he realized that Cyborg wasn't going to let this go now. "Look Cy, we might've been doing this for a couple of years now, but we still aren't the best out there. Yes, we are good and can stop just about everyone, but we can't stop them all." He explained as he turned to look at his friend.

Cyborg frowned but nodded his head. "Sorry, I just feel like we should be able to stop Slade by now, I mean we've been fighting him for a couple of years now. Why can't we just catch him already?" He groused as he rubbed his head in frustration.

Robin sighed and quickly ran a hand through his spiky hair, wondering the same. "I don't know Cy, but if death can't keep Slade down, I'm starting to wonder what could. He's been at this for far longer than we could imagine." He stated as he looked towards the other three members of the team. "But that doesn't mean we'll stop trying."

Cyborg smiled at that while Starfire and Beast Boy both cheered at this, but it was Raven that seemed to stop the cheerful atmosphere that robin had achieved. "There's one thing I want to know though." She started, catching the others attention back on to her. "Why would Slade go to such trouble to retrieve Phantom?"

This stopped everyone in their tracks as they stared at her. Robin put a hand to his chin in his normal thinking pose while Cyborg and Beast Boy shook their heads, neither knowing of why.

"This could be just like a Tameranian instructor and their clapnar." Everyone turned towards Starfire, who was looking highly enthusiastic at having an idea that others didn't.

"Huh, would you mind clarifying that for us Star?" Robin asked as he ran his hand through his hair again, wondering what exactly was running through the alien princess's mind.

Starfire nodded her head and beamed as she began to speak. "A Tameranian Instructor doesn't like losing their Clapnar, or in this case Apprentice, before that Apprentice had learned everything possible." She began and the others nodded at her to continue. "Slade has said that Phantom one has been with him for two years correct?" She asked and ignored the startled looks from the others. "Just like a Tameranian Instructor and their Clapnar, Slade has created a bond from training the Phantom and therefore has decided that he wants the Phantom to learn everything he knows over the last two years."

Robin stared at her stunned, unsure of what to say to that since it implied that Slade was actually human. "So Slade had, probably reluctantly, become attached to Phantom?" He asked tentatively, still unsure of the thought.

Starfire beamed and nodded. "Correct Robin, Slade wishes to finish his teachings for the Phantom, but when we caught him, he went to retrieve his Clapnar." She finished with her hands in front of her.

The room was oddly quiet at this, none of them wanting to really believe that Slade could even be slightly human.

"I think we need more information on this." Raven said as she stood up, ignoring the burning in her back.

Robin nodded his head as he looked at his team. "She's right, and I think I know where to start." He said as he turned and left the room, the other Titans moving to follow him.

TeenTitans

A.N. This is starting to get intense, and I promise you guys you'll find out what happened to Danny soon, but I also have to thank you guys for your reviews and I found a lot of your guesses good ones, but none of them are correct. I told you what happened to Danny is gruesome and many of you wouldn't be able to come up with it.

But another thing just so you guys know, yes this is after True Ultimate Enemy and Danny's family and friends are dead. Simple and he went to live with Vlad and more will be explained in the story, so you'll just have to wait for the next chapter. Please Review and tell me your thoughts on this story. Thanks for reading.


	5. Prying into a Past

Chapter Five

Prying into a Past

A.N. _Before you start reading this chapter, I have to give Cookies to one Newboy who was able to guess, at least in a thought form, what I had done to Danny and if you actually read this, then you know that I'm going to reveal what I've done to Danny this chapter so prepare for some torture and child abuse! Read and enjoy and again Congratulations to Newboy for guessing what I had done to Danny!_

Slade growled as he looked at the monitor in front of him, the heart beat on it was still slightly elevated than what it really should've been, but he lacked both knowledge and technology to fix it. He was a master in fighting, thieving, and hacking; he was not a doctor or a physician that knew everything about the internal body.

He looked down at the raven haired teen again, a new breathing mask over the nose and mouth as the figure took deep even breaths, the flush over the cheeks indicated a fever though. Slade knew that his apprentice would've done anything he could to get away from the Titans when cornered, he just didn't think it would be that severe.

He sighed this time and shook his head as he clenched his hands behind his back. "You idiot, you've regressed to the point of when I first found you! All of our work gone because you were reckless." Slade growled under his breath, wishing the idiot would wake up so he could just yell at him. "Now all of ou-MY plans have to be placed on hold to help you heal again." Slade growled as he turned on the boy and began walking away from him and towards the door.

"I shall return later to check on your progress. Alert me if anything changes." The last bit directed towards a male in a white lab coat, short brown hair, slightly pudgy, and wearing a pair of goggles. He nodded his head shakily as he watched the villain walk out of the room.

"How do I get myself into these situations." He asked himself as he rubbed at his shoulders and looked at the boy in the bed who he had to stabilize or risk his own health. "First Osborn and now this Slade character, maybe I should move to someplace quiet, I hear North Dakota has good weather." He muttered to himself as he pulled over a machine and placed it over the boy to check for any obstructions in his lungs or heart.

"Now all I have to do is press this and just watch." He said with a smile as a small computer screen appeared in front of him. He waited several seconds before a picture of the boy's chest began to appear and his eyes widened in astonishment as he watched it.

"Now what do we have here?" He muttered to himself as he leaned closer to the screen and squinted, his mind racing faster as he looked at the image. "I better call Slade, he'll want to know of this new development." He said as he walked over to the other side of the room and pressed a button near the door, hands already shaking in his nervousness. "Um, Slade?"

It was quiet for several seconds before the sound of someone replying over a radio appeared. "What is it Dr. Octavius, nothing has changed with my apprentice has it? I would hate to have to kill you cause he died as well." The edge in the other's voice had Octavius shivering in further fear as he pressed the button again.

"No, no need to kill me, the boy is still in stable condition, but I decided to use one of my machines that I had you get and make sure nothing was wrong….well…I think you better see this to understand." He said as he gulped and released the button again and waited for a reply.

He began to worry when no such reply came and sighed and walked back over to the screen, squinting again as he tried to figure out what exactly he was looking at. It was about five minutes after he had asked Slade down when the door slammed against the wall, startling him from his observations.

"What is it that's so important for me to see?" Slade asked as he entered the room, walking straight over to the machine where Octavius was standing. The Dr. nodded his head as he turned to the machine and pointed to the middle of it so Slade knew instantly what he was talking about.

"This obstruction is right in the middle of his chest, but I'm not sure what it is. It seems to be emitting some sort of energy into his body, but it doesn't look like it's hurting him any. I'm not sure if it is dangerous to him or not and I can't be sure until I know what it is." Dr. Octavius admitted as he turned to the unconscious boy while Slade looked at the screen as well, hand to his chin as his single eye racked over the image and then the boy.

"Will you be able to remove it from his body?" Slade finally asked as he moved the machine aside and pulled the sheets down so the boy's chest could be revealed, along with the long and ugly scar along said chest.

Dr. Octavius shook slightly as he shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not sure since I do not know what it is, but I can start with a biopsy and find out what exactly it is. If it is too dangerous to remove than I will not, but if it's possible to remove I will inform you immediately." The Dr. said as he began to prep his items for the biopsy.

Slade nodded his head as he turned and began to leave the room again. "Inform when you discover what the substance is, until then, get to work." Slade said with a harsh tone at the end, ignoring the startled squeak from the man as he left the room, his eye glowing as a plan entered his mind. "Until he's done, I guess I have some research to do." With that he slipped into the shadows and disappeared.

TeenTitans

Vlad sighed as he looked at his office in the Jump City area, wondering what he was to do now that he was being denied access to the boy. He growled at the thought of that brat of a boy wonder stopping him from taking what was his, even though the boy had given him good enough reasons not to.

He was mostly worried that they would find out what he had done to the boy while Danny had been in his care though. He knew that some of the experiments that he had wanted to do would he would not have been able to perform on himself, so when the boy was literally dropped into his lap, he took advantage as fast as he possibly could. Never mind the fact that the boy could most likely lose his mind from most of them.

He grinned as he remembered how several of said experiments had been a success and the boy was now invulnerable to several attacks, including his own lightning attack, but only when he was in ghost form.

Vlad frowned as that thought crossed his mind. Ghost Form. The boy had not once used his ghost form from what he had seen since Danny had ran. The information that the boy could use that Ghostly Wail while in his human form was phenomenal and astounding, though it obviously had very bad side effects.

He would have to research why his last experiment had gone so wrong, to the point where it seemed as if the boy was dying from just using his powers. Normally that wouldn't happen unless the boy was in his ghost form, which would be in immeasurable pain, not to mention that the form would start to liquidate. How the boy was still alive if he continued to use his powers were beyond him. He'd have to research further into the subject.

He sighed as he rubbed his eyes, his head beginning to pound as too many thoughts raced through his mind, whirling together to create a migraine. "It doesn't help that the Titans currently have hold of the boy too." Vlad growled as he remembered how he just barely escaped when the shield went up, leaving behind the boy to the teen heroes. "If only I could get my hands on him again." Vlad growled again as he steeled his fingers together and looked out the window that was behind his desk.

The view was magnificent, nothing less than the best for him after all, the sun glowing over the ocean, but the Giant T that was glowing green disrupted the image slightly and left him simmering in his anger again.

He could feel his eye twitch in irritation as he thought about all the trouble he'd have to go through to get the boy now, especially since Robin seemed intent on keeping the Ghost Boy from his grasps. "If only Robin didn't suspect anything then I would have the boy where he belongs. At. My. Side." Vlad hissed out as he turned back to his desk and looked at all the paperwork on his desk that needed to be done.

He began signing again as he thought of a way to get to the boy without the Titans knowing, mostly the green one that could sense. He needed to compile everything he knew about the Titans and the Tower together so he could easily access it without problems.

First, he knew that the Titans only ever left the tower for emergencies or to get food. Second, the tower was directly programed to the cyborg one and any interference between the two would immediately be detected and reacted to. Third and finally, he had a self-destruct program on the Ghost Shield and all the other ghost technology that he had given to the Teen Titans just in case.

He smirked at that as he thought about the backup plan he had come up with when he had offered the teens his help. None of them would expect to have the weapons explode on them when they decided to attack him.

Another thing he had no illusions of. He knew that the Titans would eventually take Danny's word over his and would soon come for him to place him under arrest, which he would easily escape out of. He was a master at escaping and tricking people, so fooling a bunch of teen heroes wannabes would be no problem.

The only thing he knew would be a problem would be the girl in the blue cloak, Raven. Her energy was the opposite of his ectoplasm, instead of being the blood or power of the dead, her power came directly from her father, a demon who ruled over the underworld for centuries. He glared at the paper he had been signing as he thought of that.

Raven would absolutely be their wild card, for she was the only one that could really hurt him by using her powers. He was unsure of what he would do about her when the time came, especially since his best options seemed to be either take her out first or stop her from using her powers which he was unsure of how to do.

He groaned as he dropped his pen onto the desk and covered his eyes with his hands, admitting that his mind was all over the place and that he'd get nothing done until he could get his thoughts organized.

He blinked in astonishment when he felt something wrap around his body, anchoring him to his seat. He instinctively went tangible, but soon realized that he was unable to escaped and groaned again when he realized what was going on. "What can I do for the area's resident Heroes now?"

Vlad was flipped around by a green gloved hand and was soon facing five very suspicious and angry looking Teen Titans.

DannyPhantom

Slade stealthily moved through the building, avoiding all of the employees as he moved towards a single room, knowing that the information that he wanted was there. He wouldn't stop until he had for he knew that this is what he needed to make his apprentice powerful again.

He had seen glimpses of old abilities and skills from the boy as he trained him, a power that he knew the boy had hidden deep within him. He was unsure of what kind of power it was, but he knew that he would have troubles defeating him if the boy was truly at full power. That was why he was doing this, to make his forces stronger, nothing else besides that.

He slipped by the security guard that stood in front of the central processing mainframe, easily done since the guard was a fat slob of a human eating a donut. He sneered at the inferior being and headed straight towards the large mainframe and main computer screen in the room.

"Welcome back dear." Slade blinked as a hologram of a red haired woman with lavender eyes and wearing a blue hazmat appeared next to the computer screen. She seemed to be a fairly common female, her hazmat suit made her stand out though as did the muscles that obviously laid underneath, most likely from martial arts training. He smirked to himself as he looked at the hologram for another second before turning to the computer again.

He popped the computer panel open quickly and effortlessly and was soon hacking into the system itself as the Hologram watched on with such intensity that Slade could've sworn she knew exactly what he was doing. "Vlad won't be happy that you're hacking into his systems." She said and Slade felt a vein twitch as he quickly hit a button and she disappeared, leaving him to his work.

It was only minutes later that he was able to hack into the personal files of Vladimir Masters and he quickly began to sort through them, looking for what he wanted.

Sure enough he found it and was unsurprised when the file named Project Phantom had a passcode on it. He rolled his eye and quickly used a hacker system to crack the code, entering the folder within only seconds of seeing the box asking for the password in the first place.

He blinked as he looked at the many files inside of the first one, clicking on one and a screen popped up. He watched as an image appeared, showing a boy strapped to the table, he had white hair and glowing green eyes and was wearing a black hazmat suit with white accents. He was struggling against glowing green bonds that held him to the steel table, a green band wrapped around his mouth kept him from screaming.

"Experiment 001 in progress. Resistance to fire beginning." A voice on the video spoke and soon what seemed to be a torch appeared next to the boy and began to burn his skin. Slade watched as the boy began to writhe on the table and scream behind his gag as his skin was literally burned away, leaving his side looking like an overcooked hamburger afterwards.

Slade quickly exited out of it and skipped down the list and opened a file that read 051, the screen popping up to show the same teen, but this time the gag was gone and the restraints were no longer there. He just sat on the table, looking at the ground with dull green eyes and hands laced together in his lap.

"Experiment 051 beginnings, subject will now undergo intense shock therapy to become resistant to the lightning element." The boy didn't move away as the voice detailed what was about to happen and how the boy should react should he become tolerant of the element. Slade soon watched as the boy jolted in his place and fell back against the table, grunting as he began to twitch uncontrollably and tears rolled down his face.

Slade exited out of that and watched several others and was disgusted with what was happening to the boy in the videos. He knew that he was cruel, but he would have never done something like that to a child, a boy who had done nothing to him just to make him resistant to things that humans shouldn't be in the first place. He would never torture a child in such pain to make them resistant to something that they weren't born to resist in the first place.

He watched as the boy was choked, bones broken, neck broken, blinded, stabbed, cut, burned, drowned, and several other things that he didn't even think a person could cause a child. He watched each video carefully though, wondering how he could even have the boy's trust now when he obviously shouldn't trust anyone.

He sighed as he finally clicked on the finally video; one he hoped wasn't as bad as the others. "Experiment 100, this one is special for only one reason." Slade narrowed his eyes as Vlad's voice came onto the video like all the others, he had finally recognized it after several videos, but he didn't like it any better than when he had watched the news that had talked about him with Vlad as a guest.

"Ghosts are known to have several weaknesses and only one that could truly kill them entirely, this element mostly used in the Anti-Ecto-Weapons that ghost hunters use today." Vlad said as he aimed the camera at the table again, the now very ecto-soaked table, with Phantom strapped down on it with several wires and tubes sticking out of him and a breathing mask over his face. He was still in Ghost form which Slade found odd since Danny himself had told him that he always turned back into a human after falling asleep unless in the ghost zone.

"This element though can easily be used to help ghosts heal and create their own sorts of weapons when needed." Vlad continued to say as he appeared on the screen in his human form wearing a blue apron, face mask, and a medical cap that covered his hair. Slade watched as he carried a white box that could easily fit a small chicken in. "I plan on using such an element to make Daniel, or subject Phantom immune to it. Hopefully it won't kill him but make him stronger."

From there Slade watched as Vlad removed Phantom's hazmat suit from his torso and then begin to slice into him, opening his chest like he was just a frog in a science class. Slade continued to watch as Vlad placed something inside of Phantom's chest and then close the boy back up quickly. He had just finished when Phantom began to scream in pain.

Slade could only watch with wide eyes as the boy began to glow with green energy and scream, the tubes and wires once connected to him came out of him in a bloody red and green mess and soon it began to turn more and more red and the green disappeared. He watched as the snow white hair began to turn into raven locks and the once dull green eyes turn into dull navy blue eyes instead. Oddly the hazmat stayed but it was obvious that it didn't matter as Phantom fell quiet finally.

Slade watched as Vlad ran towards the boy, checking his vitals. It was with horror that the master mind villain watched as Vlad was forced to perform CPR to bring the boy back to life. Slade growled as he shut the video off and threw one of his beads onto the computer system and left the room, not caring that the guard had seen him.

He was heading for a new target now and he wasn't about to be stopped by anyone. He had questions and they were going to be answered, hopefully with some torture on the side for the one he was going to interrogate.

He grinned at that thought and sped up, heading straight to the top of Dalv Co.

TeenTitans

Vlad glared at the five teens, wondering exactly how they got into his tower without him noticing or being alerted. He looked to each one, his eyes narrowing as Robin stepped in front of him and brought the attention to himself. "We want information Vlad, and I mean real answers." The boy wonder said as he pulled out the Master Staff, settling the weapon onto Vlad's cheek which sizzled.

Vlad hissed at the pain before moving his head back and avoiding the object. "I can't very well give you answers unless I know what I'm supposed to answer in the first place." Vlad remarked, snarling at them viciously. "That and I could have you for trespassing and endangering a civilian for this."

Cyborg rolled his eyes as he stepped forward, hands crossed over his chest. "Not likely, especially since we're following up a lead to hopefully prove someone innocent or put a villain into jail." He said as he looked around the office, his eyes scanning for anything that he could hack into. "Yo Robin, I'm going to look for the computer system." He said as he walked away from them, heading towards a door to the left and opening it.

Cyborg blinked in surprise as he looked at the arsenal of weapons, all of them shining and high-tech. "Whoa." He said as he walked in, picking up a hefty looking gun and checking it out. "Hey Robin! This guy has his own armory right in his office!"

Robin blinked as he looked towards the door that Cyborg's voice had come from just as said teen walked out holding the gun in his hands. Robin whistled at that as he turned to a glowering Vlad with a raised eyebrow. "Wanna explain what that is?"

Vlad glared at him and his lips thinned as he squeezed them together in avoidance. Robin sighed as he looked towards the desk and began to open them, looking for anything that could be used to hold information or hiding a laptop or keyboard or something. It wasn't until the final drawer on the left that he found what seemed to be a keyboard, but it was huge and took up the entire bottom of the drawer.

Robin pulled it out and gently set it on the desk, beginning to tap on the board and looking around, wondering if something would pop up at any moment. Vlad only watched in amusement, obviously finding it humorous to watch a teen just tap away at what seemed an ordinary keyboard. "You'll never be able to figure out what it does." Vlad said with a chuckle as he shook his head, continuing to watch in amusement.

BB sighed as he walked over to Cy, board already with the normal investigation techniques that the others used when trying to figure something out. "Hey Cy, do you know what thing does anyway…Gah!" BB yelled out as he tripped over something, falling face first into the ground with his arms out stretched in front of him.

Cyborg laughed at his friend while Starfire flew over to him, quickly helping her friend up. "Are you the alright Beast Boy? That fall was, um, epic." She said as she looked at the ground to see what the little green teen had tripped over.

"I'm fine, but what exactly tripped me anyways?" Beast Boy said as he rubbed his head, looking at the ground and finding a six foot long rectangle shape in the ground. "Um, I think I found something." BB said as he looked at the slot, his eyes catching a small button on the right of the slot which he easily stepped on and a huge screen appeared in front of the desk where a now very pale Vlad sat watching.

Robin smiled at his friend and nodded his head. "Good job Beast Boy, now we're getting somewhere." Robin said as he turned on the computer all the way and began to tap away, trying to hack into the systems of the male.

"Hey, this is harassment, this is illegal hacking! I could get you on charges for such things!" Vlad exclaimed as he fought to get out of his bindings and stop the boy wonder. Raven grunted as Vlad struggled, keeping him in place with her powers. "That is enough!" Vlad finally shouted though as he looked at Raven and shot twin beams from his eyes, nailing her in the chest and breaking her concentration.

Robin glared at the other man as he swung the Master Staff at him, simultaneously turning on the Spector Deflector. BB, Cyborg, and Starfire all did the same thing and soon an enormous battle began.

Vlad dodged the fire bolts from Starfire easily, knocked Beast Boy back with a bolt of lightning, and easily deflected the Sonic Boom from Cyborg, only having to duck down or dodge when Robin when to hit him with the Staff or kick him in some way. "You will not get away with this, I assure you." Vlad said as he floated in the middle of the room, stepping to the side as Raven's energy tried to wrap around him.

Robin snorted as he looked at Vlad, his own temper flaring. "If you would just tell us why Phantom refuses to actually return with you, then my team and I will stop, but otherwise we will get the information." Robin said as he held the staff towards Vlad threateningly.

Vlad only rolled his eyes and scoffed as he brought his hand up to his mouth, the watch on his wrist obviously the item he was heading for. "Computer, activate code 02325, effective immediately." He intoned smugly.

Robin readied himself for anything that came his way, bombs, ninja stars, lasers, anything that could effectively harm him and his team. What he wasn't expecting was to have the staff blow up in his face or for the belt around his waist to explode as well. Robin heard similar yells of pain as he was sure that the other's equipment also exploded on them.

It was several moments before Robin even attempted to get up because the pain was pretty bad. He hadn't had something explode on him in a long time and this one had hurt badly. "Ah, to have a backup plan is always sweet." Vlad said with a smirk as he floated over to Robin and looked down on the boy. "If you're wondering what just happened, then allow me to explain." Vlad showed the watch on his wrist again, smugly smirking at the boy wonder. "This watch allows me to run codes without even touching my computer, hence the activation phrase and code that I spoke earlier."

Robin growled as he listened to the explanation, annoyed and frustrated with the turn of events that he and his team had gotten in to. "The best part about the whole thing is that they exploded with ectoplasmic energy which burns human skin on contact. That's why several ghost hunters wear hazmat when conducting such experiments most of the time." Vlad said as he chuckled and walked back over to the computer screen that Beast Boy had found and pressed the button with his foot again.

He expected it to go down into the slot again, but was surprised when it stayed both on and up. He growled in irritation as he pressed the button again, but nothing happened again and his frustration built as he began stomping on the button several times. "What is wrong with this stupid thing!?" Vlad yelled in anger as he continued trying to get the thing to work.

"It won't go down until I want it to go down." Vlad blinked at the voice and whipped around to find Slade sitting at his desk with his feet on it and leaned back in his chair. "After all, I want them to see what I plan on showing them and I will get answers from you." Slade growled as he brought up a small laptop and tapped on it, the video screen instantly coming to life with a video.

Vlad's eyes widened as he looked at the Video and instantly brought a hand up to blast the screen to pieces. "Na ah, not happening." Slade growled as he leapt from the chair and round house kicked Vlad into the side and sent him flying into the wall. "What you did to him is unacceptable. I admit that I'm rather cruel, but I never take away the ability to fight back from anyone." Slade said as he pointed at the screen again.

The Titans weren't even watching the happenings between Vlad and Slade; they were watching the screen with horror struck eyes. They watched as the ghost boy was cut open, green and red blood falling onto the table and staining it further, the teen on the table unconscious and unaware of what was going on.

It was once he was fully pulled open that Robin gasped in horror as a glowing green rock about the size of a small chicken was placed in the chest cavity. Robin tore his eyes away from the screen and at Vlad who was staring at Slade with all the hatred in the world.

"You put Kryptonite in him! Are you insane!?" Robin shouted as he forced his body into a kneeling position, the others quickly following his lead and soon they were all standing on their feet all in outrage, except for Starfire since she had no idea what Kryptonite was in the first place, but still in anger for such torture.

Vlad glared at him as he put his hands behind his back and straightened his back as much as he could. "My dear boy, that is not only Kryptonite, it is a material that ghosts all fear and despise." Vlad stated as he turned towards the screen again and pressed a button on his watch, bringing up an image of a green glowing rock. "This material is also known as Ectoranium, matter that can destroy a ghost." Vlad pointed towards where Cyborg was standing and at the gun that was a little ways away. "Ectoranium is used in ghost hunting weapons or in the Spector Deflectors I gave you earlier. Ectoranium could kill ghosts or your supposed Superman as well."

Robin gulped at this information and was about to say something when Slade leapt over the table and grabbed hold of Vlad by his throat. "You put this inside of a boy who is half-ghost! Do you have any idea the kind of damage you caused the boy?!" Slade yelled as he slammed Vlad against the wall.

Vlad growled as he went to turn intangible, only to yell in pain as shockwaves entered into his body, disrupting his abilities. Slade chuckled as he looked at the now dazed man, slamming him again as he got the attention back onto him. "You won't be able to get away from me so easily. Phantom made sure to inform me of everything he knew about you when I first took him as my apprentice."

Vlad gulped as he took a deep breath and looked at Slade with wary eyes. "What exactly do you want then Slade? I'm sure that whatever it is I should easily be able to make happen."

Slade smirked behind his mask as he watched Vlad's facial expressions. "I want you to take that rock out of my apprentice."

Vlad blinked and chuckled nervously at this. "That I cannot do."

Slade growled as he slammed Vlad again, trying to get information without really asking. "What do you mean you can't do it?!"

Vlad sighed as he furrowed his brows. "The Ectoranium can't be removed because it has fused with the boy's Core, which is equaled to human hearts. Once that material is fused with a body, it's not coming out." Vlad admitted as he looked away. "You take it out, you kill his ghost form and when that happens," Vlad look Slade straight in the eye with his next words, "Daniel will die all together and cease to exist."

DannyPhantom

Dr. Octavius sighed as he turned and looked at the unconscious boy in front of him, knowing there was very little he could do for him now. "Whoever did this had no idea what the results would be, this is just cruel." He said as he moved back over to the boy as he picked up a needle that was glowing with a yellow liquid inside. "You'll never be able to have the abilities that you obviously had back before any of this happened." Otto said to the unconscious teen as he rubbed the boy's arm with a alcohol swab and then pushed the needle into the skin.

"But this should allow you to have some of your power back."

He injected the liquid into Danny.

DannyPhantom

A.N. okay, that's it for this chapter and please review. Also I am sorry if anyone felt sort of sickened at the files that belong to Vlad, but that was part of the reason why I had Danny run and hate Vlad even more. Also for the reason of using Otto Octavius from Spiderman and I used the one from the Spectacular Spiderman, is because he has created several meta-humans and is a freaking genius, so please forgive me for that. More information shall come later on that and it was before he was turned into Dr. Octopus as well.

Well hope you enjoyed and please review. Cookies to Newboy again for his guess once again!


	6. Battling Together

Chapter Six

Battling Together

"So, how long do I have?" The figure asked from the shadows as he attached a gun to his wrist quickly before turning to check the bindings on his armor.

"I can't be sure, especially with the serum that I created fusing with the kryptonite." The doctor admitted timidly as he twiddled his fingers nervously. "All I can tell you is to be careful because if you hit repercussions out of my reach, then the consequences could be catastrophic."

"I understand, I'll make sure I return within three hours at the latest. I just need to retrieve my master before he does something he'll regret." The shadow said as he finally stepped out of the shadows and into the light. "I thank you again Doctor, if it wasn't for you, I'd most likely be dead by now." Danny said as he ran a hand through his raven hair, a skunk stripe appearing as the hair was pushed back and disappearing again as it fell back down.

Doctor Octavius nodded his head as he watched the boy move towards the door. "Remember now, you only have some of your powers still, I'm not sure of what all you have, but be careful anyways. I'm still unsure of what the consequences would be, if any, when you use them."

Danny looked at the doctor again and gave him a small and rare smile with his sapphire eyes. "Thanks doc, but don't worry, I know what the chances are. I'll be careful." With that Danny disappeared through the door, leaving behind a very scared and yet worried doctor. The boy ran down the familiar corridors with frightening speed and agility.

He quickly came to the ladder that would take him topside and climbed it, already knowing where he needed to go. "I'm coming Master." He whispered to himself as he moved the cover and climbed into the light.

TeenTitans

Slade growled again as he slammed Vlad against the wall, bashing his head against said wall before releasing him and dropping several beads around the Billionaire. Vlad quickly went intangible and slide through the floor, escaping from the explosions and coming up behind Slade, aiming a red energy blast at the man.

Slade quickly dodged the attack and flipped in midair to turn and face his enemy. Both men looked at the other warily before Slade threw ninja stars at the Halfa. Vlad smirked as he went intangible, only to gasp as a star struck his shoulder, causing him to quickly dodge the rest heading his way.

Vlad growled as he pulled the ninja star out, looking at the glowing green piece of metal and then turning towards Slade with disbelief. "How?" Was all he was able to say before he had to dodge another set of stars.

Slade ran towards the opposite wall and jumped against it, using the momentum to bullet himself at Vlad. "You can thank my apprentice for that!" Slade said as he knocked his shoulder into a startled Vlad and sent the two crashing against the wall. "He told me all about you, strengths and weaknesses included."

Vlad snarled as he punched Slade in the stomach, away from him so he could stand up and contemplate his next move. "I am clearly outclassed." Vlad stated as he watched Slade prepare himself for battle. "But I am not out matched!" The blue skinned ghost yelled as he threw a lightning bolt at the Master Villain.

Slade was startled and didn't move out of the way of the lightning bolt, not expecting such a thing from the man like this. He had thought he had angered Vlad enough to where he forgot about powers and gave him, Slade, the advantage in the fight from there. So he didn't think about moving out of the lightning bolts way.

"Starfire! Intercept!" Slade blinked in surprise at the voice of the Boy wonder, even more at the green bolt of energy that slammed into the lightning and exploded together on impact. Slade looked at the Teen Titans with a wide eye, wondering what they were thinking helping him. "Don't get the wrong idea Slade." Robin said as he stepped up next to Slade, one of his staffs in his hands. "We're just taking someone worse that you down, you just so happen to be here."

Slade smirked behind his mask and nodded at the boy wonder before turning back to Slade. "I see, so I can't expect you to become an apprentice? That's to bad." Slade replied as he pulled out his own staff that glowed with red energy and prepared for the fight ahead.

Robin rolled his eyes before he looked at Vlad again. "Don't count on it." Robin muttered as he glared at the abuser in front of him. "Raven! Now!" He yelled out and only seconds later did a black energy bird appears behind Vlad.

Vlad's eyes widened before he disappeared altogether, reappearing behind Raven that stood in the spot he had been in. "Raven, behind you!" BB yelled out as he quickly transformed into a cheetah and sprinted at the ghost. Raven turned around with wide eyes just in time to be knocked to the side with a red glowing fist. BB snarled and slammed into the ghost, only to fly through him and smash into the ground, sliding several feet away.

"Idiot boy, you are nothing more than an animal! You have no hope of landing even a single blow on me!" Vlad declared as he glared at BB, who was shaking uncontrollably at this point, unable to control his body's natural reaction to something that was supposed to be dead. "So scat cat!" With that Vlad turned towards the other just in time for his eyes to widen as two fists slammed into him.

He groaned in pain from his place in the wall, moving his hands to clutch at his face, struggling to escape the hold the wall had on him. "Now that is just not fair!" He declared as he finally succeeded in releasing himself.

"We aren't here to play fair." Slade said as he placed his hands behind his back and glared at Vlad with hate. "We are here to destroy you." He announced as he jumped at Vlad again, only to go through him as the man went intangible.

"We're here to take you down and take you in!" Robin declared as he slammed his staff into the unsuspecting ghost's side, sending him into the floor with a crash. "We aren't to kill the other half Slade, we're going to put him in prison with the rest of his kind." Robin spat towards the Master Mind, only for Slade to shrug his shoulders at him.

"You can try and stop me from turning this man wholly ghost, but I will not let him get away with what he did to my apprentice!" Slade growled as he turned back towards Vlad, pulling out another staff, this one glowing with red energy. "He's going to die and that's final." He growled out as he ran towards the downed Halfa and swung his staff.

His eyes widened when he felt energy wrap around his waist though and toss him towards the side of the room. He glared at the pale girl with anger. "We are not to kill." Raven said as she sent energy towards Vlad that he quickly dodged by flying high into the air and through the ceiling before reappearing in front of her, back handing her to the ground again.

Vlad shot some green goo at her, pinning her to the ground and causing her skin to itch in irritation. "I thought I had gotten rid of you before, but apparently I hadn't." Vlad snarled at her as he began to charge up a beam to knock her out for the rest of the fight.

"I said leave her alone!" Vlad blinked in surprise as he felt something rip into his side, pulling skin and meat away from his body.

Vlad screamed in pain as he looked down at his side, taking in the damage done to his side. There was a huge bite mark there, along with a huge chunk missing as well. He turned to the culprit and blinked as he looked at a green and red blood covered Velociraptor glaring at him, claws twitching as the thing spat as much of what it had taken out of him onto the ground. "You idiot boy! You could've killed me!" Vlad stated as he placed a green glowing hand onto his side, burning the wound closed. "You're lucky I can close such a wound easily."

Beast Boy could care less as he transformed again, but this time into a gorilla and slammed both of his meaty hands onto the other's head, sending him crashing into the ground. Vlad grumbled as he went through the floor and came back up, shooting goo at the gorilla as well and pinning it to the wall as it continued to change shapes to try and escape. "Foolish boy, I would never allow you to damage me than what you already have." Vlad announced and turned to deal with his other opponents.

Just in time dodge a green bolt of energy heading his way. "My dear, really? I thought you had more class." Vlad said to the Tamaranian

"I care not what you think of me!" Starfire exclaimed as she fired green eyebeams at him, that he effectively dodged. "You have harmed Phantom and even though he is a bad person, he does not deserve to be treated like a globberworm!" She exclaimed in anger.

Vlad blinked at the alien girl before turning towards the other four that were still up and moving. "Is she serious? She can't possibly think I know what this worm is or how it is treated." Vlad said in slight annoyance.

Starfire growled as she shot another bolt at him, only to watch as he dodged it easily, his desk being destroyed in the process. Vlad looked up at her and shot a red beam at her in return, nailing her in the stomach and sending her flying away from him.

At the same time Vlad had to dodge the Sonic Boom from Cyborg as the teen tried to hit him with the energy weapon. "Is that the only attack you have dear boy? If so, then it is quite sad." Vlad told him, only angering Cyborg in the process.

"Oh no, those aren't my only attacks." Cyborg growled as several small cannons popped out of his shoulders and his arms, sending small rockets at Vlad. The ghost's eyes widened in surprise before going intangible and allowing the rockets to go through him and towards the two Teen Titans that were pinned down. Cyborg's eyes widened as he moved through the still intangible Vlad and in front of BB and Raven, taking the rockets on his own.

Robin growled as he realized it was only him and Slade left, meaning that they needed to take Vlad down and Robin would have to keep Slade from murdering the ghost fully. 'I hope I can do that.' Robin thought as he glanced at Slade from the corner of his eye. 'I can't have him killing Vlad just because he's mad.' Robin gulped but looked back at Vlad as he tightened his grip on his staff.

Slade was thinking nearly the same thing, only that he was trying to figure out a way to kill Vlad without having to kill Robin as well. 'He doesn't want him dead, but I do!' Slade growled to himself, his grip almost breaking his own staff. 'I have to many plans for Robin to just kill him, I need something to distract the boy wonder.' Slade thought as he looked at said boy, his mind racing.

It was at this point that the window that was behind the now destroyed desk shattered inwards. The three looked at the shattered window in astonishment, unsure of what had happened. Vlad gasped as he felt something slam into his stomach, but was unable to see anything at the moment. He was soon sent flying into a wall where he went through it, but no intangible. The entire wall went crashing with him.

Slade and Robin both blinked in surprise at this and looked around the room, only looking in front of them again when something appeared in front of Slade, kneeled on the floor with one fist against the floor and the other on its knees.

The two martial artists blinked in surprise at the figure on the ground, though Slade was immensely happy to see the person kneeling in front of him. "I thought you'd be stuck in bed for the rest of the day, apparently I underestimated the good doctor's abilities." Slade said.

The figure smiled as he looked at Slade with bright sapphire eyes that had a ring of green around his pupil. "I'm afraid so Master, but I'm here now." Danny said as he stood up with grace and confidence. "And for the first time in years," Danny smirked and raised his fists in front of him and clenched them tightly, "I feel powerful."

Slade smirked and nodded at his apprentice. "Good, I'm glad that my apprentice has gained his abilities back." Slade said as he turned towards the wall where a now disoriented Vlad was crawling back in, thus missing the frown on his apprentices face, but Robin didn't.

"You did get all of you powers back, right?" Robin asked, though he was still confused on how the boy looked so much stronger now when only about a week ago he looked like he was going to die. Whoever this doctor was, he was apparently really good at what he did for a living.

Slade frowned at that as he looked back towards the boy he called an apprentice, now noticing the frown and anger in the boy's eyes. "Unfortunately, because of what _Vlad_ did to me, he could not return all of my powers. I will unfortunately only be a human the rest of my life with limited powers that will come with consequences when I use them." Danny admitted as he looked anywhere but at his master.

Slade was fuming now as he heard the news, news he didn't want to hear. He turned back towards Vlad who was now floating in front of the three with a frown on his own face, now extremely determined to rid the world of this man. "I see." Slade said as he pulled out a remote from his pocket as he looked at Vlad with disdain. "If that is so, then I will take care of the reason for such a loss. Keep Robin distracted Phantom while I take care of Masters."

With that order said, Slade slammed the button down and explosions several floors down rocked through the building, destroying the main computer system that he had been looking at earlier. Vlad's face went livid as he realized what had happened to his building, knowing that somewhere in the explosion he had lost several of his main computers, not to mention research and technology.

"What did you do?" Vlad snarled out as he held a hand out towards Slade, red energy pouring into his hands.

Slade smirked as he placed both his hands behind his back and clasping them there, his confidence radiating through his body. "I have just destroyed the mother computer of this company building. Everything you had on that computer has been destroyed, not to mention that this building will soon go up in flames as well." Slade announced as he continued to smirk behind his back.

Vlad growled and glowed in anger as he glared at Slade, imagining what he wanted to badly do to the other male. "You'll pay for this." Vlad growled, but instead of attacking Slade like everyone thought he would do, he disappeared.

"Where did he go?" Robin asked as he looked around the room, prepared for anything that could happen in a moment's notice.

Danny rolled his eyes as he walked over to the two pinned Teen Titans and fired a blue mist over them, dissolving the goo holding them. "He left." Danny stated as his master watched him with a curious eye. "He knew he was outmatched and outclassed and did the only logical thing he could think of." Danny turned towards Slade and Robin, eyes glowing a dull green in anger. "He ran like a dog with its tail between its legs."

Slade nodded his head in agreement and looked towards the door that led to the hallway, noticing that smoke was already beginning to enter the building. "I believe it is time to take our leave, this building will not be able to take much more." Slade stated as he began to walk towards the shattered window.

Robin glared at him before running over to Cyborg and helping him up, BB and Raven were already free and of the goo, and Starfire was thrown over the shoulder of Danny, who ignored the pointed glare of his Master for the first time in years. "How are we getting down?" Robin asked as he looked towards Raven, already knowing that she'd be able to do it.

Slade and Danny didn't wait for the demonic girl to create her carrier though and jumped straight out of the window, ignoring the yells from the Titans entirely. Slade soon released a grappling hook that grabbed onto another building, swinging him down to the ground gracefully. Danny chose to ignore gravity all together and landed on the ground like he hadn't just jumped out of a twelve story tall building.

He gently placed Starfire onto the ground and was by his Master in a matter of seconds, ready to leave whenever the man was. "Master, are we returning soon?" Danny asked as he swiped the sweat from his forehead. "The doctor wanted to examine me when we got back." Danny explained as Slade gave him a look.

Slade nodded his head and they began to walk away, only to stop as someone shouted. "Wait one minute you two!" Robin yelled as he ran up to Danny, eyeing the other teen carefully. Danny looked him over as well, not sure what the other boy wanted from him and was preparing for the worst when a hand was extended towards him. He blinked at it in confusion and looked up at the other teen.

Robin smiled at him gently as he tilted his head towards the side where Starfire was now waking up. "Thank you for helping us. We were in a bit of a pickle before you and …Slade appeared." Robin admitted.

Danny smirked at him and reached towards the other boy's hand, only to knock it aside roughly. "I might have helped you in the process, but I was there for Master only." Danny announced as he quickly turned on his heel and kicked Robin in the face, sending him flying across the ground and into the pavement. "Don't think just because I helped get one of you out that I'll just abandon my Master for your pathetic little team." With that Danny turned and walked away.

Slade smirked at Robin as the boy slowly stood up, rubbing his chin gently as he did. "I think I just got someone that can ignore your charm altogether Robin." Slade said as he too turned and began to walk away, only stopping to leave behind some parting words. "Know this Robin, none of this is over. As soon as Masters reappears, I will go after him."

Robin watched as the Master Villain and his Apprentice both disappeared, neither leaving behind any trace they were there.

"Friend Robin? Are you okay?" Starfire asked as she stood next to him, looking at him with worried emerald eyes.

Robin smiled as he looked at her and nodded. "I should be asking you that, you were hurt pretty hard with that blast." Robin said as he looked his friend over, taking in the slight bruising to her stomach before returning to her eyes.

Starfire smiled at him gently before placing her hands in front of her and clasping together, effectively hiding the bruise. "Do not worry, I am fine. My people are very strong and take hits that your people would not be able to survive." Starfire told him as she looked him over. "But Phantom hurt you Robin, will you be alright?"

Robin nodded his head again as he looked at the others as well. "Is everyone else alright? You all took some beating back there as well. I don't want any of you to lie to me and say your fine." Robin said sternly as he looked over his team.

BB smiled at him and waved him off. "Just some irritation where that goo touched me, I'm fine otherwise." He told his leader and then turned towards Raven with concerned eyes.

Raven rolled her eyes as she too waved Robin off. "I'll have a couple bruises tomorrow and besides that is the same as Beast Boy. I'll be fine with some meditation."

Robin nodded at them and turned towards their final member with worry. Cyborg was leaning against the T-Car as he breathed slightly heavily. "Some damage from my own rockets, but I'm fine otherwise. I'll be able to repair everything once I return to the tower." Cy said as he closed his eyes and rested.

Robin nodded his head again before he sighed, running a hand over his face. He looked at the building that had once been a Dalv building and shook his head. "Well, we better head back to the tower and let the fire department handle this." Robin said as he moved over to Cyborg to help him into the back of the T-Car. "I'll drive us back, Beast Boy, against my better judgment; I'll let you drive my motorcycle back because we all know Cyborg only lets me drive the T-car." Robin said as he was able to settle Cyborg into the back comfortably. "Raven, you want to ride or fly?"

"I'll fly, I'll keep an eye on Beast Boy." She said as she began to float, Starfire right next to her. "We'll meet you at the Tower." With that she took off after Beast Boy who had already started Robin's motorcycle and taken off, driving it expertly.

"I wonder where he learned to drive like that." Robin said as he climbed in and took off in the T-car.

DannyPhantom

Danny jumped into the lair with Slade right behind him, sighing as he entered a familiar area. "I didn't think that would actually work." Danny said as he fell to his knees, sweat covering his forehead as he breathed heavily.

Slade looked at his apprentice before sighing in defeat. "We need to find the good doctor so you can be checked out. I don't want you dying just because you over did it." Slade said as he grabbed Phantom by his forearm and pulled the boy back to his feet. "Get up now, you are stronger than this." Slade growled as he led the boy towards where the doctor was being held.

Once in the room they found the doctor going over papers and scans that had come from Danny and both knew that he was trying to figure out all of the details. "Dr. Octavius." Slade said as he announced both of their arrivals.

The Dr. spun around in his seat quickly and smiled nervously when he saw who it was. "Slade, Phantom, good to have you two back." He said and then frowned as he saw the stat that Phantom was in. "Better set him on the bed so I can look at him." Octavius said as he stood up and took out a thermometer and walked over to a now seated Phantom.

Danny reluctantly opened his mouth and allowed the simple glass thermometer to lie underneath his tongue and sat waiting. "What can you tell me about his condition now?" Slade asked with his hands behind his back and standing straight. "How were you able to save him?"

Octavius looked at Slade before walking over to his desk and picking up several papers and handing them to him. Once Slade had the papers he walked back towards Danny and picked up a wrist and kept count as he looked at his watch. "Those are the calculations and chemicals I used to dissolve the material inside of him. Unfortunately I'm unable to remove the Kryptonite due to his body having fused with it. If I was to remove it entirely, well he'd die in the process." He explained as he nodded his head and then took the thermometer out and looked at it.

"I see." Slade said as he looked back up at Octavius. "What about his abilities, can you tell me about those?" He asked as he sat the papers aside. "Will he ever regain full abilities?"

Danny rolled his eyes at this point, knowing that Slade was re-asking questions that he already had answers to. Danny had made sure to inform Slade as soon as possible. Either way he kept quiet and allowed his master to ask the questions any, for he knew it was only because he wanted to confirm it.

Octavius shook his head as he turned back towards Slade. "He will never have all of his abilities again nor will he be able to use the ones he has fully either. If he was to try and use the abilities full strength, I fear he wouldn't survive." He explained further and turned towards a clipboard and wrote something down. "The only thing I can say now is that he is normal for whatever his abilities once were. His temperature is 95.6 degrees and his heart beat is slightly slower than most humans." Octavius explained. "He should be fine since from what I can see is that his usage in the powers he has is minimal and he'll only suffer a slight feeling of dizziness and weakness."

Slade nodded his head as he turned to look at his Apprentice who was looking better already. "Alright, I'll be putting you back into training as soon as possible. I want to see what abilities you have retained and what you haven't. We'll be testing you as soon." Slade said and turned to leave the room, only to freeze where he was.

Danny blinked in surprise as he realized that not only had Slade frozen, but also Octavius. "Wha…" Danny said as he looked around the room with narrowed eyes, remembering only one time that this had happened before. "Go away!" Danny yelled just as a figure appeared in front of him.

"Not until we've talked." The figure said with its purple cloak and red eyes staring at Danny.

"I don't care! You shouldn't even be talking to me now! Aren't the Observants going to be mad that you've intervened again?" Danny snarled as he stood up and faced the Master of all Time.

Clockwork sighed as he shook his head. "I have only come to give you a warning, for if you do not stop it, it could destroy what you have now." Clockwork said as he turned towards Slade and floated in front of the Master Villain.

Danny growled slightly as he glared at the Time Mater. "Get away from him." Danny said as he jumped at Clockwork, only for the ghost to dodge him and fly back towards the bed. "Last time you tried to warn me my family was destroyed and I was taken to Vlad's! Do you have any idea how much I wanted to die at that point! How I was tempted to just let Dan happen and drift away into the dark!" Danny yelled as he clenched his fists at his sides.

Clockwork sighed again and nodded his head. "I do, but there is nothing I could've done about that. Everything is as it should, but you are to be the soul person who suffers through everything. Nothing I can do can calm that." He stated as he looked at Danny pitifully.

Danny growled again and shot a weak ecto-blast at the ghost, panting at that small exertion. "Leave." Danny ordered once again.

Clockwork shook his head instead and looked at the young boy. "Not until I have delivered my warning." Clockwork said stubbornly, knowing he owed this young boy everything since he helped correct the future.

Danny growled again and paced back and forth like a caged animal, knowing he had few options at this point and that he would have to choose to do something. "Fine." Danny finally decided and waited for Clockwork to deliver his message.

"You must allow Vlad to take you or you will lose the one that has saved you." Clockwork said before he nodded at Danny and disappeared. "Time In."

Danny was left staring at the spot that Clockwork had been in with wide eyes. "Wait!" He was finally able to yell, only to realize that his Master was now staring at him with curiosity.

"What is it Phantom, I was about to go and prepare the training simulation for you." He said and that was when Danny saw it.

It was a red blast heading straight for Slade's head and Danny had no choice but to act. He ran straight at Slade and went to use a round house kick to knock him out of the way, but Slade dodged to the side, but it served his purpose as Danny smiled at him and took the blast instead.

Slade stared in astonishment at that and looked towards where the blast had come from with narrowed eyes. He waited several seconds for someone to appear, but no one did.

"Gah!" Slade whipped around at the sound of Octavius screaming in fear and saw an unconscious Phantom being in the hold of Vlad Plasmius.

"Thank you for leading me to my boy." Vlad said with a smirk before he went intangible and flew through the ceiling, leaving behind two stunned men.

It was only moments later that Slade growled in a rage and soon was screaming. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" He slammed his fist into the concrete wall, smashing it to bits before he turned to the door, his mind clear on one thing. "I'm getting my apprentice Doctor, you better still be here when I return." With that Slade disappeared, leaving behind a scared doctor.

DannyPhantom

A.N. well, I hope you guys liked this and also a happy late Christmas and happy new year. Please review and tell me what you thought.

I would like everyone to think about some of the authors on Fanfiction that died recently or a while ago. Some of them died in tragic accidents while others have died from illness and either have left unfinished stories or have had others finish them for them in memory. I would like everyone reading this to lower their heads, clasp their hands together and pray for those who have been lost recently. Allow there to be a moment of silence for wherever you, the reader, are and remember not just the writers here on this site, but those who have been lost in your life or in tragic events recently.

Please remember that life is short and that you should love those in your life while you can and show you appreciation for whatever comes into your life.

Again, thanks to those who have lost their lives for spreading inspiration through their works.


	7. Rescue Mission

_Warning: Torture ahead, may not be totally gruesome but I thought a warning would be nice._

_Beware!_

_You've been warned!_

Chapter Seven

Rescue Mission

The room was absolutely dark, no light left the room and light did not enter, leaving him clueless on what time it was of the day or even if any time had passed at all. He knew this room too, but that didn't calm him down any since he knew what was awaiting him.

Pain.

Fear.

Torture.

He was unsure of whether he would survive this time or if he'd be stuck suffering for the rest of his life this time around. He doubted that he'd get a chance to escape again, Vlad had always been smarter that he showed.

Not to mention crueler that what he seemed too.

He sighed as he relaxed against the metal table, the restraints holding him firmly in place, his mouth gagged from using any power he could, hands covered in ghost resistant mittens, and his feet hidden in pure white boots that had the same resistance as the mittens. There was no way he was going to escape this time, not with all the precautions that Vlad had used to keep him there.

He resisted the urge to cry, knowing it would be nothing but a nightmare from then on. He gulped around the gag and clenched his eyes shut tightly, resisting the urge to scream as much as he could.

He already hated it there and he had only been there for…he didn't know but he hated it either way!

'I want Master.' He thought as he closed his eyes and pictured the lair and his Master, even if the man was exceedingly stern and aggressive, he had never actually put him in danger that he couldn't help him out of or deliberately harm him during training.

'I just want to go home.'

It was at that thought that the door shot opened and his worst nightmare stepped through that door. Fear pulsed through his veins as he began to struggle against the restraints, he could already feel the leather bite into his skin, but he didn't care for his fear was stronger.

"Well, shall we begin Daniel?" Vlad asked as he snapped his rubber gloves on and tied his medical apron on. "I'm sure we have a lot to make up for."

Danny whimpered as he continued to struggle but he knew it was useless, just like how it was useless to beg for the door not to close.

TeenTitans

Robin sighed in relief as the burn cream was slathered onto his waist and lower back, knowing that when the belt had exploded in the first place that he had a burn where it had been. The only thing he hadn't thought about was how bad the burn actually had been, especially since he was a normal human being that had no powers what so freaking ever. "That feels better." Robin groaned in relief.

Starfire beamed at her friend as she screwed the cap back onto the container of burn cream. "I'm happy friend Robin feels better." Starfire said as she turned her back on him and frowned. "But Robin, what will we do about friend Phantom?"

Robin frowned as well as he folded his arms over his bandaged chest. "To tell the truth Star, I have no idea. He doesn't want to leave Slade so I have no idea if we'll be able to." He stated, ignoring the sound of BB yelping in pain as Raven slathered copious amounts of burn cream on him as well.

"Just let him be." Robin blinked in surprise as he turned to look at Raven, who was now rubbing the cream into BB's lower back. "He doesn't wish to leave the one who saved him; I see no point in trying to change his mind now." Raven admitted as she finished and BB let out a sigh in relief.

Robin frowned at that but nodded his head in agreement. "A deep gratitude or the feeling of being in debt is strong. I was like that when Batman first took me in under his wing." Robin said as he looked at the group. Cyborg was leaning against the wall next to the door, Starfire was standing in front of the cabinet in front of Robin where they kept all of the medicines, and Raven and BB were on the second bed, the green boy sitting on it and Raven next to him. "I don't think we can change Phantom's mind even if we tried." Robin admitted.

Cyborg sighed at this as he shook his head. "So he becomes one more villain that we need to take down, is that it?" He asked as he looked at the group, everyone watching each other for a response to this. "Y'all need to make a decision, I have no problem hunting the guy down, but I doubt I'd be able to take him on my own." Cy declared as he watched his friends.

"Dude, we get it!" BB yelled, surprising the group because he didn't normally had these outbursts unless he was incredibly stressed. "We either let him do what he wants or we take him down just like we did every other bad guy! Just like we did Terra!" Beast Boy exclaimed, his mind revolting on him as he thought about the blonde haired girl he had liked so much.

Raven sighed as he laid a hand on the boy's shoulder, causing BB to back down and look like a kicked puppy. "We all feel the same Beast Boy, but Cyborg is right. We need to make a decision on how to handle him. We can't just let him terrorize the city."

"Raven is correct." Starfire said as she floated off the ground and wrapped her arms around herself. "Though I am not fond of the idea of hurting friend Phantom." She admitted, but she knew that even though the boy had saved her from the burning building that he was actually and enemy and not a friend. She still liked to call him that though since he had taken the time to save her and not actually damage her in a lethal way.

Robin smiled at her gently. "I'm not either Starfire, but I have a feeling that we might have to in the future. Until then though, let's not worry about it." He said and the group nodded in agreement. "Alright then, let's go rest up, I want everyone to relax and heal for the night." Robin ordered as he grabbed his top and cape, leaving the infirmary to head to bed.

The other four said goodnight and also went to bed.

DannyPhantom

The pain was excruciating.

That was all he could think about at the moment as the scalpel dug into his leg and then what felt like a coal was laid within the wound. He screamed into the gag, hoping beyond hope that he would pass out.

"Now Experiment 007, healing rate of massive cuts and burns. This test shows that his healing rate has slowed immensely. The subject shows that he is indeed human but still has a slightly better healing rate of ten percent." Vlad said as everything that he said was recorded by his computer.

"Honey Biscuit, subject is beginning to lose consciousness again. Would you like me to give him a jolt again?" The image of his mother appeared next to him as his vision began to blur. He was so out of it that he could almost believe that it really was his mother, but the fizzing edges of the hologram gave her away every time.

Vlad hummed off to the side somewhere, typing was head as he concentrated on something else for a moment. "Yes, give him another jolt; I don't need him falling asleep on me here." He replied after a moment, ignoring the muffled scream as electricity ran through the boy's body.

"Subject is conscious again Love." The Hologram said to Vlad with a smile. Danny absolutely refused to call the thing his mother, it wasn't, it was just a mockery of the woman that had raised him.

"Good. Get me the Taser and a bucket of water; I'd like to see how his resistance to electricity is holding up, especially after all of those shocks." Danny closed his eyes, ignoring the feeling of fear tingling in his stomach…or was that nausea, he couldn't really tell at this point.

Danny heard Vlad chuckle and the footsteps approaching him and forced himself to open his eyes and glare at the man that was torturing him at the moment. "Oh, I'm hurt Daniel, after all the things I've done for you, you give me such a look." Vlad said with a smirk before taking a bucket and Taser from a mechanical hand. "Well, either way, I'll get my answers about us either way. I don't need you liking me for this anyways." Vlad said as he poured ice cold water over Danny, from head to toe, drenching him. Danny shivered from the cold but continued to glare at the man.

Vlad smirked wickedly as he turned the Taser on and lowered it next to Danny's side, not quite touching yet. Danny tried to move away from the weapon but was unable to get further than a centimeter. "Don't worry Daniel; this'll only hurt for a minute." And the Taser was shoved into his side.

Danny screamed in pain as the electricity ran through his body, causing it to spasm and convulse violently. Vlad tsked as he stopped and turned to the computer again. "Experiment 008 failed, subject has lost any resistance gained from previous training." He growled at the end as he turned to a passed out Danny. "I guess I'll just have to start over, starting with the original experiments." Vlad said as he sighed and turned back to his computer, opening the very first file there. "Computer, prepare Original File Experiment 001."

TeenTitans

He threw the table against the large screen, destroying it entirely as he yelled out his fury.

His apprentice was gone.

Phantom was gone.

Danny was gone.

Slade growled as he looked at several of the other items he had on the table, wondering what he was going to do now, especially since he couldn't seem to think clearly. It was the first time in more than several decades that he couldn't think! His mind had always his best weapon and tool, but right now it just wasn't working properly.

He growled again as he slammed his fist onto the table he was facing, breaking it in half as he did. What did he do what could he do? He had already tried to figure out where Phantom could've been placed, his computers though had all crashed as soon as he tried to hack into Master's computer system, all of them exploding after a cartoon face of Vlad danced on his screen. He now had no computers to try and pinpoint Phantom's location, not to mention Master's so he could kill the man.

He closed his eyes so he could calm down and think of a plan. He needed a way to get to Phantom and then get him out of Master's grasp. He was unsure if the boy could undergo a second time of experimentation.

He took several deep breaths, his mind running over all the information that the boy had given him when he had first join. Slade had been ruthless on finding information on Phantom so he could tell if he would be worth keeping or just to dispose of him.

He knew that Master was an egomaniac and was incredibly dependent on the stupid emotion of love. He figured that he had wanted to boy for his own and that was confirmed by Phantom later on. He was mentally unstable to the point where he actually looked sane, committing crimes that other people normally wouldn't even think about, even villains. He'd take the boy to a remote location, one where no one would've guessed because of his financial status, not to mention his habit of getting homes that others would have difficulty locating. Examples being his castle in Wisconsin and his place in the Rockies.

Slade growled again as he began to pace, his hands behind his back as he thought. The man was a complex being but not one Slade couldn't figure out, the only problem was that the man knew he had hacked into his systems once already and had taken care of making sure he couldn't again. Slade hadn't expected that virus and now he was paying the price for not being ready for it, all of his computers were destroyed and even his tracking systems on all of his apprentices, those who had left him and his current ones, were out of his reach due to the destruction.

Slade came to a stop in the middle of the room for a second before a smirk fell across his face under his mask, and soon his laughter escaped as well. Why he hadn't thought of that in the first place was a mystery to him, but now he knew how to get to Phantom, but he had to get help first. Though he was loath to admit that and he would never tell anyone else that either.

He quickly moved from the main room and towards the back where all of the rooms were and knocked on one of the doors and then entered without waiting for a reply. "Good Doctor." Slade said as he waited for Octavius to stop looking through his scope and back at him with trembling hands. "I'm heading to get my apprentice back." He stated calmly, causing Dr. Octavius to blink at him in surprise. "I want you ready for when I return with him, for I'm sure that he'll be gravely injured."

Octavius nodded his head as he stood up. "I understand; when you return bring him to the main room and I'll have everything set up." He said as he began to pack things onto a metal cart.

Slade nodded and left the room, disappearing into the shadows.

TeenTitans

He had been dreaming of nothing that night for once, he was exceedingly happy for that. He had been having nothing but dreams about certain villains and his past, but right now, his mind obviously too tired to even try, he was dreaming of only a warm and comforting darkness. He remembered the darkness from when he was under Bruce's care and had been entirely safe from almost everything.

Then something disturbed him, he wasn't sure what, but something was off. He frowned as he began to come back to the real world where his room was covered with newspaper clippings of Slade's past deeds and other villains' work, including the Joker.

He blinked as he sat up in bed, rubbing at his face as he looked around, still groggy from his trying day and injuries he had sustained the other day. He looked around and into the darkness, squinting his eyes slightly to try and make out any shapes, but he was unable to. He blamed his exhaustion for what happened next though.

He laid back down onto his stomach and buried his face in his pillow as he wrapped his arms around, intent on going back to sleep, only to hear a chuckle. "To think that you have a very handsome face Robin, or should I call you Dick?" Robin instantly reached his hand over to his nightstand and grabbed his mask, putting it on and jumping out of bed, ignoring the fact that he was only wearing sweatpants at the moment.

"Slade." Robin growled as he glared at the other male. "What are you doing here? How did you get here?" Robin asked as he realized that Slade was in the Tower, in his _room!_ "Not turning into a pedophile now are you?" Robin jabbed angrily.

Slade frowned but ignored the insult, instead he stepped out of the shadows so he could be seen. "I'm not here to bicker with you." Slade stated as he looked Robin over to make sure the boy wasn't about to attack him, he only had so much time.

Robin blinked at that, but he didn't put his arms down just in case. "What are you here for then? Can't be for the company."

Slade sighed as he shook his head tiredly. "Last night when I returned to my lair with Phantom, we were followed." He said calmly, ignoring the dubious look on the boy wonder's face. "Unfortunately Phantom was the first to notice and attacked me."

Robin blinked at that before smirking. "He come to his senses and see that you're nothing but a petty criminal then?" Robin asked as he watched frustration appear in Slade's one revealed eye.

"This is no time to mess with me Robin!" Slade boomed, startling Robin slightly. "He attacked me to get me out of the path of Master's attack! Phantom _protected_ me!" Slade's hands were now in front of him, fisted angrily as he growled low in his throat.

Robin was staring at Slade in complete surprise, not expecting this kind of reaction from the man. It was a totally different side from the normally calm and calculated man. He was unsure of what he was going to do with this version, a desperate and very harmed Slade was most likely even more dangerous than a calm and calculating Slade. "Alright then." Robin said as he motioned for Slade to calm down. "Then explain to me why you are here now? Who attacked you?"

Slade took a deep breath as he returned to his calm disposition and looked at Robin warily. "We unfortunately were followed by Masters, the man thought he could kill me by attack me when I was least expecting it. I'm sorry to say that it almost did." Slade said grudgingly. He hated admitting any sort of weakness, especially in front of his once forced apprentice. "Phantom attacked me to get me out of the way and took the attack himself. Once I was distracted trying to find out who attacked me out in the hallway, Masters entered the room and took the incapacitated Phantom."

Robin nodded his head at this and looked at Slade warily as he lowered his arms and put a hand to his chin. "I'm guessing something happened to your tracking system if you're here. Form what I saw when I was," Robin's eyebrow twitched in anger, "working for you, you had some of the most advance equipment that could track a fly."

Slade nodded his head at this as he contained his anger. "Yes, Masters figured a way to cause all of my equipment to explode when I tried to hack into his systems." The Master Villain felt his own eyebrow tick at that and was immensely happy he wore a mask to cover his face.

Robin whistled at that before he turned towards a closet and opened it. "Give me a few minutes to get ready and wake my team, we'll meet you in the living room." Robin said and turned to see that Slade was already gone. "He's as bad as Bruce."

DannyPhantom

He wanted it to stop, just so he could sleep.

He was unsure of how long he had been there, but he knew that they were rapidly going through all the original experiments from before, each one just as painful as before. He hated it and he wanted it to stop so he could sleep. He hadn't been allowed to sleep since he had gotten there, the hologram of his mother shocking each time he came close to passing out.

That was another thing. The hologram of his mother. It was disturbing and disgusting and just not right. His mother was dead and shouldn't have had to be used as a mockery like that; she should've been able to be put to rest and left alone. But no, Vlad had to use the symbol of his childhood and his peaceful life to torture him further and fall even further into oblivion.

His mother had always protected him when he was little and when he became a teenager, she became even worse. Danny used to tease her by calling her Mama Bear, but she took it seriously and became the best Mama Bear anyone could've asked for. Danny had regretted everything he had done wrong to his mother after she had died and had muttered apologies at her grave for days, he did the same for his dad, Jazz, and his friends, but most of them went to his mother.

He felt tears fall down his face as he thought about his mom, missing her even more at that moment than ever, especially with that thing hovering over him again. He wished he had his laser vision at that moment, just so he could destroy the hologram with it.

"Experiment 013 beginning." The hologram stated as long handled claws lowered over him, twitching as if in anticipation. Danny watched the metal claws in fear for what they were about to do, but he knew there was nothing he could do, so after taking a deep breath he closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable.

He screamed in pain as the claws ripped into his skin and dug into his muscles, tendons, bones. He could feel things rip apart and tear, things break and become crushed. His body convulsed painfully as he claws none to gently left his body, shock settling in as he tried to breath, his mind clouding over with clouds.

It was at this exact moment that the acid set in. Danny had known from the first time around that the metal claws had been dipped into a special acid that would burn and cauterize any wound made by the claws. He screamed around the gag and convulsed viciously as Vlad typed away at his computer, taking notes and observations as he waited for the boy to stop moving.

"He lost all the resistance I was able to get him to build up over that little time I had him." Vlad muttered as he looked at the results from two years ago to the ones now. "He reacts to the acid after twenty seconds when he lasted twenty five before." He hummed to himself as he turned to the now still boy. "Maybe I should just move onto the next one. That one is my favorite after all." Vlad said as he tapped away at the computer. "Yes, I think I will. This will be so much fun. Computer, bring the blocks of ice and salt please."

TeenTitans

"He's in there, right?" Beast Boy asked as he looked at the huge mansion in Jump City. The building was white with gold trim, had three floors from the looks of it and was reaching so far back that it was at least ten times the size of a football field in width and length. "Dude, does this guy have nothing better to spend his money on?"

"No he doesn't." BB froze at the sound of Slade's voice, still quite jumpy around the elder male. "He has no family, no friends, no nothing. He's lucky if he has business partners come anywhere near him." Slade informed as he looked at the small PDA in his hand that Cyborg had lent him. "He's in there."

Robin nodded his head as he held a pair of infer-red binoculars up to his eyes, taking in how many bodies were inside. "I don't see anything in there." Robin stated as he looked from side to side, suddenly stopping at one point to the far left. "There's something there, but it is too cold to be alive."

"What? Let me see!" Cyborg exclaimed as he took the binoculars and looked for himself, stopping and whistling once he had found the figure. "No kidding, that thing is at least below fifty degrees the normal temperature of a human being. Whatever this thing is, I'm guessing its not human." Cyborg said as he handed the binoculars off.

Raven shook her head as she handed them to BB who looked through them excitedly. "I'm guessing that this thing is an actual full ghost." She stated as she ignored the strange looks she got from her team. "If Phantom and Plasmius are both half ghosts than you guys should have no problem believing that ghosts in fact do exist." Raven stated calmly.

Starfire looked at her purple haired friend with a slightly worried look. "How are we to fight these ghosts if we cannot touch them? We had a hard time fighting the Phantom and Plasmius." Starfire asked as he looked at her friends, all of them were looking worried now as well.

It was Slade, surprising or not, that had the answer. He pulled out two staffs that were glowing a green, one he kept and the other went to Robin, and handed out what seemed to be bracelets to the team. "These are items that Phantom created on his own time. He explained that they will work against Ghosts." Slade ignored the looks he got from them and extended his staff before jumping from the wall and heading towards the building.

Robin just rolled his eyes as he turned towards Raven who nodded. All five of them were soon inside the building, right behind the ghost at the moment.

Robin took a moment to take in the ghost and could only think one thing. 'He could be Cyborg's brother.' For the Ghost was mechanical in nature with glowing flaming hair in a Mohawk and a black tank top and black pants with black combat boots and black gloves. Robin could only think that this ghost must be some sort of hunter or gun owner.

He quickly signaled Raven to attack using her powers and she quickly did, wrapping her energy around the robot ghost's body and blocking its mouth with the same energy. "I can't believe this thing!" Cyborg said quietly as he looked at the glaring ghost with a critical eye. "He makes me look like I'm from the future!"

Beast Boy and Starfire giggled at that while Raven and Robin rolled their eyes. "That doesn't matter right now; we're here for a reason." Raven stated as she looked at the ghost before folding her legs and began muttering. Soon the ghost's eyes closed and the sound of snoring could be heard. Raven quickly released him and the mechanical ghost fell to the ground, knocked out for the moment.

The Titans quickly moved, wondering where the main laboratory was, all were quiet as they moved. "Hey Robin." Beast Boy called as he ran up to his leader.

"What is it Beast Boy?" Robin asked as he looked at the green male, wondering what could make BB talk to him during a critical mission.

"I know this is a stupid time to ask this, but how did Slade know Phantom was here in the first place?" He asked quickly and quietly, his mind still trying to figure it out.

Robin smiled at him and looked at the others, all of them waiting for an answer. Obviously they were curious as well. "That would be because he has a chip on Phantom that Plasmius would never be able to find." Robin explained as he ran back to when Slade had explained how he could find Phantom.

_The meeting room was completely except for Slade and Robin, the Master Mind quickly typing away on Robin's computer as the Boy Wonder watched him with a critical eye. "What are you doing exactly Slade, not that I want you off of my computer." Robin said as he calmly pointed out that Slade wasn't even supposed to be on any of the computers in the first place. _

_Slade didn't even give him a glance as he tapped something and the computer screen appeared and the giant one in front of the windows. It showed codes quickly going by as the Master mind continued to type. "I'm getting back into my program so I can track down Phantom." He explained quickly._

_Robin blinked at that as he looked up at the giant screen with a hand on his chin. "I'm guessing you put a chip on him somewhere, hopefully somewhere that Masters won't be able to find." Robin said as he watched more numbers and codes fly by on the screen._

_Slade nodded as he punched in the last bit of the code and a map appeared on both screens. It was of the world and a red dot blinked, Slade quickly tapping on the keyboard to show where Phantom was. Both hero and villain blinked in surprise when they realized that it was still in Jump City, just on the outskirts where most of the rich people live. "It was actually Phantom's idea on where to hide it." Slade replied after he got over his mild shock. "He has metal pins in his arm where he brock it as a kid. I was able to hide the chip near it so it just looked like part of the pin."_

_Robin nodded his head as he turned towards the sound of the door opening in time to see his team entering the room._

"I was actually impressed with Phantom at that moment." Robin stated as he looked around another corner, frowning when he saw a shadow dart across the hall. "Slade is up ahead." Robin whispered.

The group fell silent at that and quickly moved to follow the adult through an open door before it closed. Once inside they all prepared for the worse, but none of them expected what they saw in front of them.

It was already a battle field as Slade attacked ruthlessly, tearing Plasmius apart almost limb by limb. Plasmius himself was struggling to keep up with the enraged Master Mind. Robin could only stare at them in surprise before jumping at a scream from behind him.

It had been Starfire, who was pointing towards a metal examining table that was soaked in glowing crimson blood. Robin stared in horror at the pale and shaking figure of Phantom. The boy was covered in his own blood, his hair matted with wet and dried blood, eyes dull navy, and his breathing was very slow and shallow, but he was still struggling to escape the bonds that he was in.

Robin looked towards Slade and Plasmius, watching as they moved towards the metal table, Slade grunting slightly as he tried to keep Plasmius away from the table. Robin knew that the man didn't want his apprentice to be hurt any more than what he was.

"We need to get Phantom out of here." Robin said as he ran over towards the table, working heatedly on the straps. Beast Boy, Starfire, and Raven all followed behind him while Cyborg watched their backs, making sure they weren't blindsided.

Once Phantom had one of his hands free he reached a hand towards his mouth and struggled with the gag, almost choking on it as he struggled with it. Robin quickly moved towards the gag and untied it, Phantom quickly throwing it across the room and nailing Plasmius on the head with it.

"What in the world?" Plasmius said as he looked down at the gag, almost gasping as he looked back up at the table to see that Phantom was now sitting up, his feet kicking out as he tried to pull his feet free and ripping the gloves off of his hands as well. "No! I won't let you get away again!" Vlad screamed as he tried to fly towards the group, only to be stopped by a blue beam.

"Not on my watch!" Cyborg yelled just in time for Vlad to be kicked in the head and sent flying into a wall by Slade.

"Don't you know not to turn your back on your enemy. Could lead to a concussion." Slade stated as he waited for the elder Halfa to stand up.

Vlad growled as he stood up, staring at Slade before smirking. "Doesn't matter since I still have the ultimate weapon against you." He said as he folded one arm behind his back and his other brought out a little black remote with only two buttons, one green and one red.

Slade watched the remote warily, not sure what it would do, but knowing it wouldn't benefit him in the least. "Oh, what is this so called weapon huh? There's hardly anything that can hurt me so what has you so sure that you can?"

Vlad chuckled as his eyes darted over towards the boy that was still struggling with the boots on his feet, trying desperately to rip them off while his blue eyes were watching what was going on with the two adults. "You see, my ultimate weapon is that boy."

Slade's eyes widened as he whipped around to stare at his apprentice, who was looking just as frightened as he was feeling at that moment. He turned back towards Vlad slowly, his eyes narrowed as he concentrated on the remote. "I won't let you." He stated as he reached into his pouch slowly and pulled out several beads first.

Vlad frowned before he smiled again and pressed the button just as the beads flew at him.

The Titans gasped at the flash of white light that came from Phantom before an ear splitting scream erupted from him, along with a freezing cold.

TeenTitans

A.N. Oh boy, this is getting intense. What has happened to Danny, what is Vlad talking about, what did Slade throw, what the hell is going on! Well, if you want to find out, then you'll have to wait and see. Please review and tell me what you thought.


	8. Picking up a Stray

Chapter Eight

Picking up a Stray

The world was an exceedingly cold place.

That was the first thing he learned when he had finally escaped from his tormentor, even though he had already known that lesson.

He had hoped that someone would help him, especially when his entire front was soaked in blood and the snow that covered his body.

It had started back when he lived with his parents and his friends were by his side. His sister had always been the one that nagged him or bugged him about his chores and schoolwork so he could keep up with all of his responsibilities. His friends gave him the courage to face the world and the determination to win against those who wished to destroy him. His parents were the best of them all though, their love and caring had taught him how to be kind and helpful towards others before he did anything for himself.

They had all been having fun and being happy, playing together, working, just being there for the others. He smiled softly as he remembered the last day he had with them. That day they had gone out to Nasty Burger to celebrate his retesting of CAT and getting a high score on it. Not as high as Jazz of course, but still pretty high.

He had studied relentlessly for that test so he could make his parents proud of him and he had succeeded in the end, though it had required a sacrifice in return.

He had to lose his family.

A ghost had attacked while they celebrated at Nasty Burger and Danny had taken care of it, but because the ghost, Skulker, had used a new attack and hit the Nasty Sauce container. He remembered what would happen if that had been hit by anything. He remembered his horror and fear. He could only watch though as the Sauce exploded and he was thrown out of the building due to his instincts activating his intangibility.

His family and friends had still been inside though.

Jazz.

Tucker.

Sam.

Dad.

Mom.

They had all been inside the building when the container had been hit. They had all been inside when the container had exploded.

He could only stare at the burning building in horror and desperation after he had turned human from a piece of shrapnel cutting into his side. He was too weak to try and help anyone and could only watch as Fire trucks and police pulled up to the area with screaming sirens. Several ambulances pulled up only seconds later and one had come running towards him, yelling for help as he began to staunch the flow of blood with his hands.

He didn't care though. He didn't even notice that he had been bleeding. He only knew that his family had been inside of that building when it had exploded. That his sister was now laying in there a charred corpse and unable to help him in his responsibilities. His friends were ash now and unable to give him courage to continue on. His parents were gone and he would no longer get that love and caring they gave him in their hugs or kisses.

Tears ran down his face at the remembrance of the pain, of the horror, and the fear that came upon realization of what had happened.

Clockwork had lied to him.

His family and friends were dead in the Nasty Burger Explosion still.

The Master of Time had lied to him about his family being safe from that.

His family was dead.

Clockwork had lied.

His friends were dead.

Clockwork had lied.

His life was dead.

He remembered a little while later that he had been taken to the hospital and treated for his injuries there, but he didn't respond to anyone there. He had nothing left and the pain in his chest had told him that there was nothing he could do now.

He just lay in his bed and waited for his life to end because he thought Clockwork would come and finish him off before he turned into Him. If only he knew how wrong he had been before the devil incarnate had walked into the room.

He had stared at Vlad Masters for several moments in horror and confusion. He was unsure of why the man was there, mostly because he had expected for Clockwork to kill him off, but this was bad either way. Vlad had explained to him in a soft and understanding voice that he was taking care of all of the funeral arrangements, including the Foley's and the Manson's, and how he also had taken care of any and all Ghost attacks. He didn't respond to the man's tone of voice or the reassurances, he was just thinking of anyway to get out of there without having to turn to Vlad.

In the end it didn't matter. Vlad had complete guardianship over him, not to mention that when he had tried to go to Sam and Tucker's funerals, both parents had reacted to him badly. The Manson's had thrown rocks at him that he didn't even bother to dodge, the Foley's had stared at him with hatred and blamed him for everything. He left Amity Park the day his parents and sister was laid to rest.

He arrived at the mansion in Wisconsin in record time and ignored Vlad, retreating to the room he had during the Class Reunion so long ago, sequestering himself away and hiding from the world.

His safe haven didn't last though.

Vlad came in only after a few days, demanding he get up and move. "You can't continue this moping Daniel. This'll only hurt more if you let it control you." Vlad had said, his face creased in what had looked like worry at the time.

He hadn't really cared at the time, but he knew that if he tried to ignore Vlad at the time, then they'd only start fighting again. He didn't want to fight anymore, he just wanted to lie down and die.

Vlad wouldn't let him though and he knew that. So with a heavy heart and a weary sigh of discontent, he got up out of bed, ignoring the way that Vlad pushed him towards his bathroom to take a shower. He remembered that he had taken a cold one, only half-heartedly washing his body before getting out ignoring the wetness on his skin as he slipped on a pair of his baggy jeans and a long baggy black shirt that Sam had gotten him a long time ago.

Vlad had still been in his room at that point, so he had allowed the older man to lead him to a huge dining hall that had breakfast plates sat on it. It was overbearing with the food it had and he had hardly touched it at all during that time.

He wasn't sure what happened next, only that he had suddenly felt exceedingly tired and that his body had weighed a ton at the time. His mind belatedly told him that he had just been drugged, most likely the orange juice since he had just finished that, it was the only thing he finished.

He woke up strapped to a metal table, a cold feeling sweeping over his body as he was electrocuted. He knew what had happening in that instant of groggy wakefulness.

Vlad had just made him go ghost.

He began to scream and struggle against his restraints, only realizing that he had a ghost proof gag in his mouth when he tried to wail and get free. "Experiment 001 in progress. Resistance to Fire beginning." Vlad announced as he came into his sight, a medical mask over his face and a medical cap over his head to keep his hair from getting in the way. "Ah good you're awake. Don't want you missing out in this after all." The Frootloop had said and he feared for his life when he saw a mechanical arm lower from the ceiling, a torch lighting at the end of it. Vlad took a hold of it and lowered it to his side.

He knew no more than pain after that. It burned into his side and sizzled his skin, blood, and ectoplasm, whatever it could lay into.

It didn't end with fire though.

He remembered the drowning, the neck breaking, the lightning, and the crunching of bones, the feel of his own blood falling down his skin, how he couldn't breathe for several hours after Vlad had left the room and the air began to disappear.

He was a ghost.

He was only half ghost.

He was human.

He needed to breathe to survive.

He needed his blood to live.

He needed bones to keep his body up.

He needed food to survive.

He needed water to survive.

He couldn't remember the last time he even had food. He had no idea how long he had been down there or what had been done to him. He only knew that at Experiment 048 he had lost the will to fight. He was still chained to the table from his ankle, but he didn't bother fighting against the experiments anymore. He just sat at the table and took whatever came his way.

Eventually he was put under. He wasn't sure why he was knocked out for that experiment, only which Vlad didn't really want to take any more chances in doing this one. Apparently the shock could kill him if Vlad wasn't careful.

He woke up later in his bed. His actual bed in his room that he had lived in the first few days that he had been with Vlad. He had blinked several times to orient himself to where he was before he shot up in bed, ignoring the pain in his chest as he did so.

He was in his bed, not the medical table. He wasn't strapped down or chained or anything.

The only thought on his mind after that realization had been simple.

Escape.

He ran fast to the closet where he hoped his belongings still were and a sigh of relief escaped when he saw that they were. He quickly grabbed his old backpack and threw in as many clothes as he could, jeans, shirts, underwear, all of that. He quickly grabbed a pair to throw on, ignoring the numerous bandages wrapped on his body as he did. Once his jeans and white shirt was on, he threw a red hoody over that and ran from the room, only just remembering to throw his shoes on after that.

He wasn't sure how he was able to get out of the mansion after that, only thinking that Vlad must've been at work at the time had helped him at all.

Running was all he could think of at that time though. He ignored everything else as he passed trees and took the route that he remembered from when he was with his family. He ran away from that damned mansion and towards the closest city, hiding in the shadows from there and out of sight from Vlad.

There were several close calls of course, like the vultures almost coming up behind him, but he had slipped into the crowd and disappeared from sight before they even realized who he was.

Skulker had been bad though. That one had tracked him all over the place and towards the west coast of America. He had to constantly dive into garbage cans to avoid the hunter, but had succeeded several times without fail.

He hadn't tried to go ghost though, that is until he had gotten off of the bus at some random place. It had been when Skulker and The Fright Knight had finally caught up to him, cornering him to the side of a building.

He had been scared and panicked, when he had been cornered, unsure if he even should go ghost since that had been a possible way for Vlad to track him in the first place.

Even though he was scared, he didn't want to get caught by these two idiots and so had tried to go ghost. He was unprepared for the electrical shock that had gone through his entire body.

He screamed in pain as electricity ran through his body, zapping any and all strength he had from his body. He heard the panicked yells from Skulker and Fright Knight, but he didn't care.

He hurt.

He screamed.

He yelled.

He clawed.

And finally he fell to the ground.

He blacked out after that, unsure of what happened between passing out and waking up.

The only thing he realized when he woke up was that there was a new figure in front of him, staring down at him calmly with his hands clasped behind his back.

At first he thought it was Vlad because the man held the same stance and posture, but quickly threw that away when he saw the mask that the male wore and he saw no cape. The man stomped his foot onto his back to keep him down, it was obvious that the man didn't want him to move.

He just looked up at the other in a haze and grogginess that he realized came with blood loss. He gulped as he glanced down at the ground he was laying on, noticing the snow around him, but also the red blotch that had stained the snow crimson.

The world was an exceedingly cold place.

That was the first thing he learned when he had finally escaped from his tormentor, even though he had already known that lesson.

He had hoped that someone would help him, especially when his entire front was soaked in blood and the snow that covered his body.

He had gotten his wish though, someone had come to help, but it was still seemingly unanswered on if he really would help him.

Or if he would be left to die.

"Do you want to live?"

He looked up at the man in surprise, unsure of what to say to that especially since he had wanted to die only what seemed a day ago.

Did he really want to live?

He let his head fall to the ground as he thought about it. The world was cold and he had felt the bitterness in it from firsthand experience.

Did he really want to keep living?

Or did he want to lie down and die like the dog he was.

He gulped in sudden fear at that thought and the thought of Vlad winning caused tears to fall down his face as he remembered how Vlad had used him. The man had explained that he was nothing more than a lab rat for the millionaire to use as he wish and dispose of as he pleased. So the truth…

He didn't want to die.

He shook his head back and forth, his nose burning from being rubbed into the snow, but he didn't care. He could live with a little cold burn.

"I see." The man above him said and took his foot off of his back. "Get up then." He looked up at the man, eyes fogged with tiredness and his vision beginning to be taken over with darkness. "If you want to live, then show me! Get up!" He felt a kick to his side and he gasped in surprise.

It took him several moments and more than just a few kicks from the man to stand up, but he did. The man seemed happy with this and nodded his head as he turned to walk away.

He tried to follow, he really did, but he had lost a lot of blood already, so when he tried to take that first step, he fell back down. He didn't give up though. He continued standing up and trying to walk, only to fall down.

He was unsure if the man was still there, his vision becoming spotted with darkness as his mind and body began to revolt against him.

He didn't care though.

He wanted to live.

He wanted to prove Vlad wrong.

He wouldn't die on the other's terms.

He would die on his own terms.

He stood again and took several steps this time before his legs buckled and he fell to the ground again, gasping in pain as his chest hit the ground. He groaned as he felt pain spasm through his body in annoyance at his stubbornness to keep moving.

He moved to stand again, only to feel hands slide under his armpits and pick him up and somehow get him on a back. He knew it was the man from before, but he was in a lot of pain. He groaned as he felt the other move swiftly through the town, the jarring stops from jumping and the motions of running.

He did notice though how the other was as careful as he could be though, gentle hands holding him up on the other's back as he held onto him the best he could with his weakened arms and abused body. He could only do what he could when he felt himself beginning to slump on the other's back from the pain in his body. "Go ahead and sleep."

He blinked at that sleepily before groggily passing out on the strong shoulder.

He woke up with a start when he felt a hand on his chest.

He reacted on instinct, grabbing hold of the wrist and twisting in such a way that made pain spasm in his body, but he ignored it. He focused on tossing the person away from him and leaving himself on one side of the bed while his attacker was on the other. That was what was supposed to happen.

He was surprised though when he felt the hand twist in his hold and grab a hold of his forearm, twisting it so that it was behind his back, his chest pinned down against the bed and pain lancing through his whole body.

"It seems you have quite the instincts." He froze at the voice, unsure of what to do now that the memories from earlier came to his mind, racing across his eyes as he thought about the man that had carried him to who knows where. His breath began to come in huffs and his chest tightened in both fear and panic. He was unsure of what to do.

"Calm down." The weight of the elder man leaned over his back forced him to steady himself or he risked passing out, not to mention the gasp of absolute pain made him realize how bad his chest hurt. "Yes, just like that, relax and take in deep breathes." The man continued to instruct and soon he realized that he was slipping back into the darkness.

He was unsure of how much time had passed since he last woke, but this time he felt a little off somehow. It was hot and he normally didn't feel the heat as much as he did when he was fully human. His body was naturally colder due to his being half dead. Even his heart beat was normally slower but at the moment it was beating so fast that he was afraid that it would burst out of his chest.

"Ah, you're awake." He looked to the side slowly, his head pounding, and saw the man from earlier. He wasn't able to see his face but he thought he saw a mask from earlier covering that. He'd have to think about it later when he could actually focus better. "It seems you have caught a fever and your wound has become infected. I'm unsure of what caused it." The man announced as he moved towards him slowly, his hands held at his sides where he could see them.

He watched with glazed eyes as the man came closer to him and looked down at him, knowing that if the man really wanted to kill him at that moment, he could and there'd be nothing he could do about it.

"I've looked through all the information I can, but I am unable to find information on you. You must not be a very important person if there's absolutely no record of you, not even in any hospitals or school records." His eyes widened at this as he realized a very important detail.

Vlad had erased him from the face of the planet.

He felt tears fill his eyes and fall over at that thought. He hadn't had much left in the world but for the records in his school and the people who remembered him there. To have everything he had worked for, even if it was just a little, erased and destroyed was heartbreaking. He had absolutely nothing left in the world now, not even his chance at going to school. He looked away from the man that had saved him from peril, not wanting such a man see him spill such useless tears. He felt ashamed and pathetic, but he couldn't help it.

"I seem to have hit a nerve." The man said as he took a step back to give him space. "I would not have thought that such a thing would affect you as such, but apparently there is more to you than what I first thought." He wanted to snort and give a sarcastic reply, but knew it would be useless due to the fact that his throat felt raw and inflamed at the moment.

He clenched his eyes shut as he fought against the sorrow tearing through his body, telling him that he should just give up and die.

The only thing keeping him going at this point was the will to show Vlad that he wasn't a lab rat to toss aside and allow to die after all the tests possible had been ran. He was going to live and make it through this no matter what.

"I assume that you must be hungry, even if you are still sick. I will not waste precious resources just for you to die from sickness." The man stated as he disappeared for several moments before reappearing with a tray with a bowl on it.

He tried to sit on his own, but the weakness in his arms and the pain ripping in his chest told him that he would be doing no such thing. He growled in annoyance as he tried again, only to have a set of hands slip under his armpits once again and help him sit up against several pillows at his back. "I told you, I will not allow my resources to be wasted because you decided to be sick." The man growled again.

He scowled at him with a glare worthy of Him, he was sure, but the man wasn't affected and instead took a seat at his bed and picked up the bowl and spoon. He blanched in horror as he realized what this man intended to do and he let him know that he despised even the thought of it.

"Try lifting your arms." The man directed at him and he growled as he tried to do as ordered. He blinked in surprise when he realized that his arms felt like lead. He frowned and looked at his right hand, knowing that this would be harder than he realized. He concentrated on one of them first before he even gave into the thought of giving in. He concentrated for what seemed like hours, but were indeed only minutes, trying to even twitch a finger.

"Your nerves were affected by some sort of shock." The man said as he watched him patiently, knowing that the boy's will would not permit such a shameful act as being fed would do. "I'm unsure of what those beings did, but apparently they sent quite the amount of electricity through your body."

He realized that he wasn't going to be able to lift his arms and glowered at his lap in disdain, but he knew that if he wanted to eat, then he'd need help. He glared at his lap as the man finally began to feed him the soup that he had brought, knowing that this would be his first full meal in what seemed ages. He had eaten only what he could still easily or what others could afford, nothing more.

He could only finish half the bowl before he could no longer eat any more, turning his head away from his savior to signal he couldn't eat anymore. The man seemed to under this and elegantly sat the bowl back down and stared at him.

"My name is Slade." He blinked at that and looked at Slade with wary eyes, already knowing that this man could possibly be worse than Vlad. "I bet your wondering why exactly I saved you and what my intentions are towards you."

He nodded his head slowly at that, wanting answers, ignoring the pain that was growing in his chest and his tiredness. Slade nodded at that and stood up with his hands going to behind his back from habit. "I want an apprentice." He stated calmly.

He stiffened immediately at that word, his eyes going wide in fear and horror. He didn't want to be anyone's apprentice, especially some fruitcake he had just met on the street, even if said fruitcake had saved his life.

He quickly shook his head, Slade's one visible eye narrowing at the movement. "You haven't even heard my proposal yet and you dare to refuse me?" Slade asked calmly, but the tint of anger was evident in his voice.

His breathing picked up as his panic began to set in. "No." He whispered at first before forcefully moving his body, his arms still hanging at his side uselessly even as he pushed with his legs so he was leaning against the wall instead of the pillows. "No no no no no no! NO!" He yelled out the last no forcefully, hating the thought of having to become someone else's 'apprentice'.

Slade watched him, he was sure of it, as he had his panic attack. "I refuse! I will not become someone's apprentice! All that is, is pain!" He screamed at the masked man, knowing that he was revealing a lot in his panic, but he couldn't help it. "I won't go back to that! I'm not a lab rat!" He screamed again and tried to summon his ghost side to escape.

He screamed in pain as what felt like electricity whipped through him, causing all sorts of pain. He screamed and screamed and screamed and that's all he seemed able to do, scream.

He was in total bliss when he fell back into the darkness.

When he woke next he felt like screaming again. His body was screaming in pain and itching from a crawling sensation over his body. He felt tears falling down his face from the extent of the two feelings, it hurt so bad. He wanted it to stop.

"I see you've awoken again." Slade. He wasn't sure why the man had bothered keeping him after seeing that, but he knew that he was useless now. He couldn't excess his powers and his body was frail from whatever Vlad had done to him.

"I want to know why you react to 'Apprentice' so badly." It was a blunt statement, but he still froze at that word, already knowing that it had been part of his hell.

"No." He managed to whisper out, turning his head away from Slade.

Slade growled at that as the sound of steps came towards him. He wanted to get away, but his body was refusing to move again, even his legs. His chin was grabbed roughly and his head turned so he could look at Slade. "I do not take insubordination well." Slade stated as he glared down at him. "You will tell me why you dislike that word so much and give me your name boy."

He glared at him back; knowing that if he was going to be tortured he wasn't goin got give in again. "Go ahead and hit me then." He whispered, his voice hoarse but still useable. "Wouldn't be the first time I'd be someone's whipping boy." He stated and then spat at Slade with what little saliva he had.

Slade easily evaded the spit and it fell back onto the bed harmlessly, but the look in Slade's eyes told him that he was now contemplating something. "I would not be your first master then." Slade finally spoke after several minutes.

He snarled at that word, master, hating it even more than Apprentice. "I'm not ones toy!" He snarled. "I refuse to be a slave; I refuse to be a damned Lab Rat!" He yelled out the last part, his legs lashing out in his anger.

Slade merely glanced at them before returning his stare back at him, but he didn't care, he just wanted this man dead so he could leave! "I see." Slade said again as he stepped back, surprising him slightly and causing him to fall silent and still. "If that is how you were treated before, than I see why you hate that word so fiercely."

He stared at him again, his eyes wary but more open this time, especially since Slade's tone had changed slightly. Most would not have noticed but due to his having worked with Clockwork and dealing with Vlad, he noticed. "What do you want from me?" He finally asked, his voice rough from his earlier yelling.

Slade stared at him silently for several moments before chuckling. "I only wish for an apprentice to teach the ways of my styles." Slade ignored his snarl at the word and continued on. "I want an apprentice that will listen to me and for me to guide." Slade's eye narrowed onto him and he leaned forward slightly so he could see the intent on his face. "I want an Apprentice to make strong enough to defeat anyone they so wish."

He stared at the elder man for several moments before glaring. "That's what he said too! He'd make me strong and we'd rule the world together! I was nothing more than a rat to him! Something to use and then dispose of when he pleased! How do I know you're not going to do the same thing!?"

"You don't." He froze at that as he stared at him in astonishment. "You'll have to trust me." Slade stated as he disappeared into the shadows, leaving him to think.

He was unsure of how long it was before Slade returned, staring at him silently and waiting. "Phantom." He finally said to the man.

Slade raised an eyebrow at him as if to ask what he meant. "My name. Phantom, Danny Phantom." He looked up at the man with soft glowing green eyes and a determined frown on his face. "You said you'd make me strong, strong enough to beat anyone." He didn't ask but stated it.

Slade nodded anyways to that as he walked towards him and stopped at his bed. "I did say that." He confirmed.

"Then make me strong so I can kill him." Danny said with determination.

Danny wasn't able to see it but he felt the smirk that fell onto Slade's face as the man chuckled. "Alright then, your training begins now. You'll have to feed yourself this time."

Months passed before Danny was able to stand on his own again, his legs wobbly underneath him, but he didn't care. He worked hours upon hours, days upon days to be able to move on his own again. He found out the hard way as well what Vlad had done to him.

Slade had never seen someone go into a rage like Danny had that day he learned that he had been cut open. He had destroyed a good portion of the hideout before he passed out in pain.

Slade later told him that he had screamed and a piercing wail had come out instead, but this attack had cost him dearly. He spent several more months to learn to walk again. He wasn't happy when he learned that his powers were blocked off from him for some reason, he was furious, but he held back another wail and learned to use his powers sparingly.

Slade taught him everything that Danny knew, forcing him to work ten times harder every day to get the power and energy back from when he had been hunting ghosts. He learned to tactics and maneuvers and tricks every day. His body toughened and became strong. He grew a couple of inches that first year with Slade as well.

He was still unsure of Slade for a while, but he learned to call the man Master, even if he hated it at first. Later in the coming year he would be happy to call the man Master due to the way that the man treated him and taught him. He gladly called himself the Apprentice for once, especially after he had been able to pull off a heist for his Master on the first try. The Titans had no idea it had been him that stole the computer chip.

The first year passed and his memories of his time with Vlad faded and his memories of his friends and family also began to fade. The pain in his chest disappeared as the wound had completely healed, leaving him whole for the first time in a year.

He continued to train and train until there was only so much he could learn from Slade, he'd have to start learning from experience soon if he wished to be any more help to his Master.

He grew to trust Slade also, not even second guessing the man as he took him out on several nighttime travels, mostly a game between them to see who could stay hidden and not be seen.

He had been chased by the Titans more than Slade had been, but he still was able to disappear before they even had a chance of catching him.

He told Master of his lost powers and the man quickly went to work to create something that he could use like his old abilities had permitted. Danny soon had several blasters that fit in the palm of his hand and a belt that allowed him to go invisible, not to mention all of the other beads and marbles that Master had at his disposal.

All he wanted to do at this point was to make his Master proud of him, so when Slade had told him to face the Titans on his terms, he was excited. This was his chance to show his Master that he had grown over the last two years. To prove he was a capable apprentice that was worth every bit of his time.

He smiled at the suit that Slade had given him before he left to do the mission. It was the final piece that told him that he was permanently his Master's apprentice. There was no going back after he put the suit on.

He didn't bat an eye when he left the lair wearing the suit.

DannyPhantom

The boy screamed in pain as his body began to emit a freezing cold wind, blasting the five Titans near him, away and into a wall. His body changed as the white halo around his body split from his middle to change his form.

He was still wearing the suit that Slade had given him to make him his apprentice, but his skin turned a shade paler than what it already was, his eyes turned into a blazing emerald with sapphire outlining his pupils, his hair turning a shocking white but the sides of his head and the back stayed black, and finally a white glow surrounded his body.

Slade watched in horror as powerful winds swept around the boy and rammed into him, slamming him into the wall next to a panicked Plasmius. "What the hell have you done!" Slade roared at the man as he pushed up against the winds and came to be kneeling on the wall, the winds holding him there.

"The power the boy has is much more than I expected!" Vlad yelled back as he looked away from Slade and towards something else. "I used what was in his system to change his molecule structure! To regain his powers and use him as a weapon I needed to change his base from human!" Vlad yelled over the wind as he began to move towards whatever he wanted slowly. "I just activated the nano bots I had injected him with just now. I hadn't expected for him to lose all control like this."

Slade growled as he looked over Vlad and stared at the remote the other was heading for, his eyes narrowing in concentration as he crouched against the wall and then leapt over Plasmius, quickly coming to the remote. "If I hit this button, it'll shut those bots down correct?" Slade asked as he turned to look at Vlad.

Vlad snarled at him and shook his head. "No, it'll destroy him." Vlad went to try to snatch the remote away but was unable to due to the fact that he was pinned to the wall.

Slade's eyes widened for only a split second before he crushed the remote in his hand. Vlad stared in horror at the wrecked remote before screaming in rage. "I will not allow you to destroy my apprentice." Slade announced as he shot his fist forward and knocked the Elder Halfa out. Vlad quickly returned to his human form and was left against the wall.

Slade looked towards his screaming apprentice in determination before jumping from the wall and slamming to the floor instead. He quickly pulled out an extra staff and slammed it into the ground so he could stay there while he looked at his bracelet that Phantom had made for him. "I hope this works." He muttered to himself as he pressed a button and the bracelet fizzled for a second before a large green dome surrounded him.

Slade smirked as he slowly made his way to Phantom, knowing that he only had one shot at this. The winds were strong at point blank, even with the shield it was pushing him back, so he had to hurry to do this. "Sorry about this Phantom." Slade finally said as he swung his staff, hitting the boy into the side of the head, knocking him out instantly.

The winds died down and the room warmed up.

"You're going to pay for that." Slade's eyes widened as he turned around in surprise, the bracelet fizzing as it held against the lightning bolt that had hit the shield. "I won't allow you to take my Apprentice away again." Vlad stated as another lightning bolt appeared in his hands.

Slade snarled at that as he glared at the other man. "He's not your apprentice." Here Slade smirked as he glanced at the passed out boy. "He's mine." Slade said and turned back just in time to see the lightning bolt smash through his shield.

TeenTitans

Oh wow. This was pretty intense at the end, but I hope the top part helped you guys understand what had happened. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I can't wait to hear about your reviews.

I also have a request you guys. I'm really good at drawing and I want a cover for this story. I was wondering if one of you guys could draw a cover for and if I like it, I'll use it! I'll make sure to tell everyone too! Just send me a link to it or email it to me or something. I hope you guys help me out and I can't wait to see! Thank you!


	9. Battle for Life

Chapter Nine

Battle for Life

Slade dodged to the side just in time to avoid the lightning bolt, growling as Vlad moved to blast him with another energy bolt, but he dodged that one as well. He knew that he was at a disadvantage since the Halfa had powers that he did not, but he was sure that if he used every weapon that Phantom had given him and use his intelligence than he'd be able to protect his apprentice and destroy the other man in front of him.

He had to come up with a credible plan first but that wouldn't be too hard considering the man was flying at him in a rage that only a ghost seemed capable of. Slade grunted as he was slammed against the wall after taking a fist to the stomach. He coughed wetly before he looked back up in time to catch a punch heading for his head. He grimaced as a crack resounded in the room, signaling that something had just broken in his hand. "You're not going to win." Vlad growled as he brought his fist back out of Slade's loosening grip. "You're only human, something that can easily be broken."

Slade growled right back at him as he dodged to the side, avoiding another fist that would've broken several ribs. "That doesn't mean I'll give up just like that." Slade stated calmly as he dropped several things on the floor and then flew backwards towards his apprentice, sliding to a stop just as Robin and the other Teen Titans got to the boy as well. "You don't have much time." Slade said as he stood up straight as if he hadn't been hurt to begin with. "Take him to your tower and keep him safe. I'll handle the frootloop." Slade smirked at the name that Phantom had called Vlad on occasion.

Robin looked at Slade with narrowed eyes before turning towards Phantom, who was knocked out and thankfully breathing, even if it was slower than normal. "We'll take him." Robin stated as he motioned for Cyborg to pick up the other teen. "And we'll take good care of him." With that Robin quickly turned and motioned for his team to leave.

Slade glanced over his shoulder and caught a glimpse of white hair before the Teen Titans disappeared entirely, leaving him to face Vlad. He smirked as several explosions rocked the room and several cursing of biscuits could be heard as Vlad was hit like planned. "Butter Biscuits, when in the world did you set those?" Vlad growled as he appeared out of the green smoke, singed but otherwise fine.

Slade only lowered himself towards the ground as he pressed a button on his belt. Feeling the current that ran through his body telling him that it had activated and it was ready to be used, he smirked as he leapt forward at Vlad.

Vlad scoffed as he turned intangible only to gasp in utter horror and shock as Slade slammed into him and a shock went through is body, forcing him back onto the physical plane and allowing Slade to send a powerful left hook into his face.

"How is that possible?" Vlad asked as he stood back up and rubbed at his face, eyes glowing a bright red as he glanced at Slade warily, unsure of what to think about the new development. "I haven't been hit by a human since Jack's foolish Ghost Gauntlets."

Slade stood up straight again as he looked over at the billionaire, knowing that the other hadn't known how smart the boy had really been. "I owe this technology to my Apprentice." Slade gleaned some satisfaction from the hatred that Vlad showed at his use of that word. "He's quite the technician not to mention inventor. He knew that you'd come after him eventually and decided that if I was to ever face you in his stead that I would need an edge." Slade stated as he activated one of the palm blasters that Phantom had adjusted to hurt ghosts and fired it at Vlad.

The billionaire once again tried to dodge the attack by going intangible, only that it failed once again, he yelled in pain as the blast connected against his chest. "Impossible." Vlad coughed out as he once again pulled himself from the adjourning wall. "He was nothing more than a straight D student at his old school, how is it possible for him to build such things?"

Slade frowned at that piece of information, he hadn't known that of the boy since when he had done research all he had found was a passing name here or there in a newspaper, nothing more. There were no school, hospital, or police records, no birth certificate, and no nothing. Not even the name Phantom in the town of Amity Park was on paper. The closest he had been was with the boy's real name Danny Fenton and that only brought up information on Jack and Maddie Fenton and Jazz Fenton in the end. No Danny Fenton could be found.

"Beyond what his records say he's very intelligent and has created many weapons that we use today." Slade said as he moved to the side to dodge an ecto-blast. "He even created the shield that got me close to him and these as well!" Slade said as he threw several darts at Vlad, the metal glowing a dark red as they flew.

Vlad blinked as he dodged three of them before two of them sunk into the flesh of his upper right arm. He stared at them for several moments before the effects finally set in and he was screaming as they burned his arm. "Gah what the bloody blazes are these?!" He cried out as he shakily pulled the darts out and threw them away from him.

Slade smirked underneath his mask as he moved silently backwards and into the shadows, easily hiding within them to make it look like he was no longer in the room. "Those were fire darts, as Phantom prefers to call them, and they cause the skin of anyone, ghosts included, to burn and peel away within seconds." His voice echoed around the room, hiding his real position and causing Vlad to look around in fear.

Then it seemed as if Vlad had finally calmed down and stood up straight, his hands coming to rest behind his back in a familiar pose that Slade raised an eyebrow at. He had no idea how he had stood like the other. 'I need to find a new stance.' Slade thought sardonically before he shook himself back into awareness. "It seems that Daniel has improved much further than what I thought possible."

Slade glared at the suggestion that his apprentice could be stupid in the first place. "_Phantom_ has always had potential; it only took the _right Master_ to make him into a strong _apprentice_." Slade replied as he moved from his spot and towards the other side of the lab, taking out several of the lights while he was at it, darkening the room. "Only a competent _Master_ could really teach the boy to his true potential." Slade said as he enunciated Phantom, apprentice, and Master to quickly reapply the fact that the boy belonged to him and that Vlad had failed in that department.

Vlad growled as he watched as each light was knocked out but he didn't moved, knowing that his hybrid vision would keep him from truly being in the dark. "Young Daniel was nothing but shell of what he had been before his family and friends were killed, he wasn't worth teaching anymore." Vlad stated as he concentrated on his hearing seeing as his sight was no longer an option; he was unable to see the Criminal Master Mind even with his advanced sight. "He would've been good for nothing more than to find out what our limitations were."

Slade hummed lightly as he activated the lens in his mask so he could see in the darkened room, his mind latching on to the one piece of information that he wanted. "You see I have no real opinion on Phantom before I found him almost dead in that alley way and two men standing there as he screamed." Slade stated as he slipped a few bead bombs into his hands. "I tried to find out who he was before I took him on, but I couldn't find a single piece of information on him anywhere. Now why is that?"

Vlad smirked at this as he tilted his head up a little and then continued to look around, neither his hearing nor eyesight was pinpointing where the other man was at the moment. "That was a genius plan to make sure that the boy had nowhere to go. Even if he did go to the police he'd be a nobody, literally. He wouldn't exist and the best they could do is put him into the system." He felt smug at that moment as he knew that the plan had kept him from doing exactly that. "Of course, we both know that Daniel isn't the type to just run for help so it kept him from doing so and in my grasp."

At this point the half-ghost frowned and glared at the darkness. Slade caught on and couldn't help but chuckle at this information. "That is, until I got my hands on him." Slade replied as he slipped up close to Vlad and set several beads down on the ground before disappearing just as Vlad flipped around to stare at the spot he had been. "I got to the boy before you could recover him and then I hid him away from you where you were unable to touch the boy."

Vlad grudgingly nodded his head at this before he finally got tired of it and shot an ecto-blast off to one side, but missed as Slade was in the opposite direction. "This is getting tiresome, either show yourself or leave." Vlad commanded as he shot off another blast, missing again.

Slade frowned as he realized that the man was starting to get agitated, which took a hell of a lot shorter amount of time than he thought it would. He mentally shrugged since it didn't really matter what the other thought or how he reacted, his plan would be detonated as soon as he got the information tha the wanted. "Where is all the information on the boy and the recent experiment that you performed on him? Where can I get it?" Slade growled as he appeared at Vlad's side suddenly and grabbed hold of Vlad's front and lifted him higher into the air.

Vlad gasped in surprise before he smirked down at the other male, eyes sparkling with accomplishment. "You'll never get it, I've got it locked down in one of my super computers and that needs both my DNA and retina scan of both forms." Vlad stated as he smirked down at the other male. "Not to mention three passwords that are something that only I know."

Slade looked at him blankly as he stared at Vlad, his mind already running as he came up with a plan. "I could easily get passed the Retina and DNA scanner, I have before." He stated and he watched with vicious accomplishment as Vlad's face turned a pale blue. "While the passwords I can guess at what they could be from the information hat Phantom has given me. Let's see…Madeline Masters, Daniel Masters, and…Vlad Masters."

Slade watched with a smug smirk as Masters grew even paler and his eyes widened in his surprise. "How did you know?" Vlad asked in a hoarse voice, unable to comprehend the information that the other had just given him, information that should've been impossible to guess.

"Simple," Slade said as he brought a hand up to the other's face and activated his palm blasters, "you're a predictable lonely man that most likely has a cat." With that Slade blasted Vlad into the wall that was covered in bombs and quickly escaped from the area as everything within fifty feet began to explode.

Slade quickly covered his face and prepared for a rough landing, slamming through several walls as the explosion knocked him back. He knew that he had used all of his explosives so he knew that the explosion was going to big, but he hadn't expected for the metal table to rip in half and fly right at him. He gasped in pain as he looked down at his stomach, grimacing as he noticed a large chunk of metal lodged there, blood pouring around it.

"Looks like I'm not the only one going." Slade looked up as Vlad walked into view in human form, blood pouring from his mouth as he limped towards the other male. He coughed and more blood came flying from his mouth and landed on the floor in a large puddle. "How did you get so much done in so little time? Without me even noticing?" Vlad asked as he fell to his knees in pain, holding his chest and stomach where Slade could see several little pieces of shrapnel lodged into place, not to mention the burns the other had from the bombs.

Slade gulped silently as he forced himself to stand up without the wall, glaring at the downed Masters as well. "I owe it to Phantom." He stated catching Vlad's astonished stare with a smug smirk. "He told me how you liked to talk and gloat about everything." He said as he turned and walked out of the room, leaving behind a screaming in raged Vlad just as another explosion went off in the room.

"Now, I need to get to that computer." Slade muttered as he moved down the hallway and where he knew Vlad's office would be since he had looked over the blueprints several times over. So he moved as quickly as he could and turned down several hallways, ignoring how bombs went off behind him, knowing that each were timed from each time he sat one on the wall. He just hoped that he could get the information before the last one went off.

It was several minutes before he finally entered the lavish office where a laptop sat innocently. Slade ignored this in favor of the fireplace that had two golden footballs sitting on the mantle, both gleaming in the light of the room. He pulled down the right football and the fireplace opened up to a set of stairs. Slade took a deep breath as he quickly moved down the stairs, ignoring the searing pain in his stomach and aches from the rest of his body. He had to get what he needed before he could retreat back to his lair.

The lab was huge with a large glowing green portal off to the side while a large computer screen dominated the right side of the room. Slade knew that this was the computer he was looking for so he walked forward and began tapping away at the console quickly, disabling the retina and DNA scanners and locks easily, moving pass the passwords was child play since it was the exact words in order of what he had told Masters earlier. The man had really been predictable even with the little information that Slade had had on him.

Once he had gotten pass all of the security features it only took a few more taps on the keys to bring up all the information and documents on Phantom, including all of the experiments that had been performed on him. Once Slade was satisfied that he had all of the information gathered he downloaded all of it onto a hard drive and turning to leave. He heard one of his explosions go off and cursed as he realized that he had only two more explosions before he would be trapped, he had to hurry and get out.

Slade quickly left the lab, throwing the last of his explosives into the room and fled as fast as he could. Once again he ignored the pain he felt in his abdomen and moved pass several more hallways, ignoring the heat that was beginning to grow behind his back. He growled as he felt another explosion go off and he stared at a window that was just in front of him. He had to get to that window if he wanted to get out. Another explosion and the flames grew behind him; he only had seconds to go now.

He was almost to the window, he could see, now only if he could jump through it and to the outside he'd be safe.

The explosives went off in the lab and he was tossed forward.

TeenTitans

"How is he doing?" Robin asked as he walked into the medical bay with a bandage on his cheek and wrapping gauze around one hand. His eyes quickly landed onto the figure on a bed and covered up to their neck in bandages.

Raven looked up from the clipboard in her hands and looked at him with saddened eyes. "Truthfully, I'm surprised that he's even alive at this point." She stated before turning to look at Phantom. "His DNA structure is as unstable as Beast Boy's was when he was drenched in that chemical a while back. If we don't find a way to stabilize it than he'll fall apart."

Robin frowned at this before he approached the bed and stared at the extremely pale boy and how he barely breathed. He glanced towards the heart monitor and blinked in surprise. "His heartbeat is at least twenty beats slower than normal humans not to mention his temperature is only 55 degrees. What is going on here?" Robin asked as he looked back down at Phantom's white head.

Raven shrugged her shoulders as she ran a hand through her hair, ignoring the bandages her hands were in and how stiff the rest of her body felt. "I told you he was already dead but for him to be alive too is something I didn't expect. He's not supposed to exist but then again neither should Beast Boy or Cyborg or even Starfire."

Robin nodded his head as he turned to leave the room. "Just keep me updated and Cyborg too. He already told me that he's working on a way to help Phantom, all we need to do is be patient and pray that Phantom can hold on." Raven nodded her head in agreement as Robin left.

Once he had left the room Robin moved quickly down to the lab that Cyborg had renovated after that incident with Beast Boy. The lab was now equipped with machines that could test, analyze, and run blood like a hospital and held several other things that Robin had only heard of, such as a microscope that could see the DNA. The only person that could really work it with any real effect was Cyborg though since he knew the human body better than anyone else in the building.

That was where Cyborg was at this time, going over several samples of Phantoms blood and puzzling over it, trying to figure out what was going on. Robin hoped that the robotic teenager could help the boy lying in the infirmary practically dead.

"Aha!" Robin blinked in surprise as he looked at the door to the lab; he hadn't even realized he had arrived till Cyborg had yelled out. Robin shook his head as he realized that he really needed to get to sleep soon.

"What did you find?" The Boy Wonder asked as he walked into the room only having to look up where Cyborg was looking down through a huge microscope. "Isn't that the DNA microscope?" Robin asked as Cyborg looked down at him.

Cyborg quickly grinned and nodded his head as he returned to the microscope motioning for Robin to join him up on the platform. "It is and it has just helped me find out the reason why Phantom is in the shape that he is in." Cyborg said as he moved aside for Robin to look at the results.

Robin blinked before rubbing his eyes, thinking he was tired, before he looked at the microscope again. "There is no way, it can't be this." Robin muttered.

Cyborg nodded grimly as he crossed his arms over his chest as Robin continued to stare. "I'm not sure how he was able to do it, but this Vlad guy was able to get nano-bots down onto DNA level and attached the nano-bots to each strand. These are really high tech not to mention much more complicated than what a normal Billionaire would've been capable of." He explained as he leaned his against the railing of the platform.

Robin nodded his head and glanced at him as he put his hand to his chin and held the elbow of the arm with the other hand. "I see, is there any chance of removing the nano-bots or stabilizing them?" His worry grew at the grimace that Cyborg gave him in return.

"To tell the truth Robin, this is even beyond me. I may have medical knowledge and technical knowledge but I'm not a genius. Not to this level at least." Cyborg responded as he looked at the microscope with narrowed eyes. "Besides, do we even want this guy to survive, after everything he's done, being the apprentice of Slade, maybe this is a good thing."

Robin stared at him in astonishment for several seconds before his own eyes narrowed. "So you want an innocent tortured and abused kid to die just because he latched onto the first person to care about him?" Robin asked scathingly.

Cyborg gulped and looked down at that, his mind thinking of the condition that they had found the kid in when they had first gone to rescue him. "I didn't think of it like that." Cyborg admitted as he closed his eyes and turned his head away from Robin.

"No you didn't." Robin spat as he glared at his friend. "That kid is the same as us, the only difference being that he had been through a hell that we will never understand. To lose and then be used in such a way, I can't even imagine. Makes me thankful that I had Batman in the end." Robin said as his shoulders slumped.

Cyborg nodded his head at this because even after his own accident he had his parents and they helped him get control over his new body. He sighed as he looked back at the microscope, unsure of what to do now since he didn't even know how the nano-bots even worked in Phantom's DNA anyways.

"DUDES!" Robin and Cyborg jumped as Beast Boy came running into the room, eyes wide and wild. The green boy had several bandages on his face from earlier, on large piece of gaze in particular stood out from the rest and rested on his cheek. "That Vlad dude place has been utterly destroyed!" He yelled out as he stared at a both shocked Robin and Cyborg.

"What? But how did that happen, we were just there half an hour ago!" Robin yelled as he jumped down to come stand in front of Beast Boy, Cyborg following only seconds later. "What exactly did you hear Beast Boy?"

BB quickly shook his head as he answered Robin verbally. "It's not what I heard Robin, it's what I saw!" He stated as he waved his arms in the air. "Me and Star went to go see if Slade had finished with Vlad and when we arrived the entire place was burning! The entire mansion dude was up in flames and all I could hear were sirens from Fire trucks and Policemen coming!" He explained quickly. "Star went to tell Raven as well!"

Robin and Cyborg glanced at each other before looking back at Beast Boy with worried eyes. "You didn't see either Vlad or Slade did you BB?" Cyborg asked as he crossed his arms over his chest, hoping that Robin wasn't thinking what he was thinking.

BB shook his head sorrowfully as he looked back up at his two friends. "No I didn't, I couldn't really see anyone moving inside and if they were alive before the fire, their dead now cause there was no way to get out of there, at least, not alive." BB said his already green skin turning a bit greener.

Robin sighed as he lowered his head and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I guess that confirms that theory." He muttered as he looked back up at the two with narrowed eyes. "I'm hoping against hope that Slade didn't, but I believe that Slade has murdered Vlad Masters and then destroyed all the evidence with this fire."

Cyborg nodded his head grimly in agreement while BB was trying valiantly to not throw up at the thought. "Dude, that is just sick." BB muttered lowly as he covered his mouth with his hands and bent forward slightly, as if he'd throw up right there.

"I know BB, but this is how some things just are." Robin stated as Cy rubbed the other's back to help him a little. "We'll just have to see how many bodies were found and then find Slade if he got out." Robin stated as he moved to leave the room.

"Robin!" Starfire shot into the room, Raven right behind her, and both looked quite harried and worried.

Robin blinked as he looked the two girls over and wondered what exactly could have them both so startled like they were. "What is it Star, did something happen?"

"It's Phantom, Robin." Raven said as she came forward, hood up to hide her face.

Robin traded glances with Cyborg before looking back at her. "What's wrong, has he become unstable again?"

Raven shook her head as Starfire burst out with worry. "The Phantom has pulled a invisible act!"

"Wait…What?" BB asked as he scratched his head in confusion.

DannyPhantom

He coughed harshly as he leaned against the sewer wall, clutching his stomach in pain as he did. He had no idea how long he had been down there but he knew that he needed to get back to the lair where Master was waiting for him. Just like all the other times, Master would be there to help him and heal him so he could go back out just for Master. 'Just wait for me! Please just wait for me!' He thought as he dragged himself further down the sewer and to the entrance of the hide out, the place he had called home for years now.

He smiled as he looked at the door to the entrance and quickly pressed his palm against the scanner. His smile got wider as he entered the hideout, only for his smile to fade when he only saw the good doctor. His shoulders slumped as he stared at the frantic middle aged doctor and as the other helped him to a metal table that was surrounded with several pieces of medical equipment. He silently shook in his distressed even as Dr. Octavius attacked several wires and tubes to him and he ignored the needle that was pushed into his skin. His mind was only on his Master as he finally slipped into restless sleep.

Octavius could only sigh as he looked at the child in front of him, a boy that had gone through even more from the looks of it. "I'm glad I moved him to a different area, I wouldn't want the boy frantic over him at the moment." The Doctor muttered to himself as he brought up the file again, looking at the calculations and theories of the Nano-bots and how they were attached. "This is going to take some doing this time around." With that he quickly began to work on a cure that would stabilize the boy.

DannyPhantom

_"Oh Danny, what's happened to you?" He groaned in annoyance at the voice. Couldn't it see that he was tired and wanted to sleep?_

_ "Dude, wake up, we came all this way to see you and you're just going to lay there? What a waste man!" He scrunched his eyes at the sound of the voice, he knew that voice, and he knew the last one as well now that he thought about it. Where he knew them from though had him stuck at the moment._

_ A chuckle, it was female he was sure of it. "I know it's been a couple of years Danny, but you shouldn't have forgotten us already. Not even your new Goth lifestyle should've made you forget us. By the way I like the outfit, very Evil Apprentice like." He smiled at the sarcastic tone at the end and then it clicked with that._

_ "Sam?" He asked as he opened his eyes, realizing that his head was resting on someone's lap. "Jazz?" He looked at the familiar bright orange hair that his sister had inherited from their mother and the kind lavender eyes as well. Then a red barrette flashed in the corner of his eyes and he knew that person as well. "Tucker?"_

_ "No, we're the three Stooges, yeah dude, it's us!" Tucker exclaimed as he threw his hands out to his side in excitement. "Not that you forgot about us or anything apparently." _

_ Danny smiled as he looked up at three of the most important people he had known. "Sorry, I've just been busy, you know, surviving." He said as his smile saddened slightly. "I'm sorry, I know I promised, but it seems that I have become at least a little evil." He said as he stared at them sorrowfully._

_ Sam crossed her arms and smiled at him. "Its fine, I'd rather have you with this Slade dude anyways, from the looks of it you have actually learned something from him, even if it's not for the greater good." She said in her normal brash way._

_ "Hey! He's helped take down an evil man and he's saved several lives too!" Jazz stated as she defended her little brother's actions. "I mean, yeah, they were on his way and what not, but he could've just totally ignored them and left them to die in those allies!" _

_ Danny frowned as he remembered those. It was during his little excursions with Master that he'd stop every now and then to help those who were being mugged or about to be raped or attacked. "I know, but still some of the other things he's done…" Sam said as she looked away._

_ Tucker jumped in at this time as he pointed out several things. "Most of the things he stole can be replaced easily or he's only stolen from places that haven't even been open for years. Remember that storage place with all the steel bars and what not! That place had been shut down for years! Also that chip he stole was one of several thousands!" _

_ Sam nodded her head reluctantly at this as Danny blushed up a storm. He refused to move from his spot though to defend himself, he was too busy enjoy Jazz's hand in his hair. "Anyways, this isn't why we're here anyways you two." Jazz said softly as she looked back down at her little brother with a gentle smile. "We just came to say hi and that we're fine."_

_ "Yeah dude, we're fine, so go ahead and live the rest of your life, even if you are a super villain now." Tucker replied with a happy grin as he fiddled with the ever present PDA._

_ Sam rolled her eyes and scoffed. "I'd much rather you weren't a villain but I can't really tell you how to live your life, but yeah, everyone's fine and dandy where we're at." She stated in turn._

_ Danny smiled at them as he felt tears fall down his face and onto Jazz's lap and into his hair. "I'm happy to hear that." He said as he finally lifted up hand into the air and fisted. "I hope mom and dad are okay too." He said as he waited._

_ Jazz smiled as she laid a hand onto her brother's fist. "Yeah, they are and they say they love you, even if you are a halfa, alright little brother." She said assuring him gently. Danny nodded his head with a tearful smile._

_ Tucker laid his hand on top of Jazz's with his own smile. "We'll be watching and cheering you on dude, we'll always have your back even from the great beyond." He chuckled at his own phrasing. Danny nodded at him again and they shared that ever present Dude look only guys could do._

_ Sam smiled as she laid her fist on top of theirs with a laid vibe, free hand on her hip. "Just make sure you don't kill anyone and that you help the Titans when it really counts." She said before she kneeled in front of him awkwardly with her hand still on the pile. "But otherwise known that we still love you as we did when we were alive." With that Sam kissed his forehead and then faded into the light surrounding them._

_ "Yeah dude, we'll always care, no matter what you do or where you end up." Tucker patted his shoulder but kept his hand where it needed to be before he too disappeared._

_ Danny was crying heavily by this time and Jazz just smiled at him gently as she brought both their hands to her chest where she encased his one in both of hers. "Don't cry Danny, I know you miss us and that you had hardly any time to mourn our loss, but I still don't want you to cry." She held his hand tightly and ignored her own tears as they fell, more intent on making sure Danny was alright._

_ "I don't want you to go Jazz." Danny said as he gripped onto a couple of Jazz's fingers with his own the best he could. "I want to go back to when we were all happy and times were simple. Before I got my Ghost Powers." He said bitterly as he tried to blink the tears away but couldn't._

_ Jazz frowned at that before shaking her head. "Don't say that Danny, you've done so much good with your powers and you still can, even if you choose to stay with Slade. I know you can!" _

_ Danny just smiled up at her in the end, too tired to bother fighting her on the subject. "Same old Jazz, always telling me I can do good even as I do bad." _

_ Jazz smiled at her little brother with watery eyes. "You bet! You can always count on me to tell you about all the good you've done." The two siblings smiled at each other for a while before a chime echoed in the area. Jazz looked up saddened as she realized what it was. "I'm sorry Danny, but we need to go our separate ways now." She said as she leaned down and kissed his forehead before bringing his fist to her lips and kissing it. "Remember what we've said and remember that we'll be waiting for you when it is time." With that she disappeared as well, leaving Danny staring at the place she once was and how cold he was now._

_ "Remember what you've said huh?" Danny said as he closed his eyes and lowered his fist. "Easier said than done." With that he drifted back off to sleep and into blissful darkness._

DannyPhantom

He jerked away as something pulsed inside of him, warming him to the core and burning his skin. He screamed in pain as the heat got worse and he felt like he was being burned alive. His skin turning crispy, his blood boiling, his muscles turning into dust along with his bones, his brain into mush, while the rest was turned into charcoal. He couldn't believe the pain he was in and he wanted it to end.

Suddenly it all disappeared and it left him panting raggedly on the metal table tiredly as he slowly and carefully opened his eyes. Everything was blurry and he couldn't tell exactly what was happening, but what he could tell was that there was a cool hand on his forehead. He relished in the coolness of the limb and welcomed it as it soothed his burning skin. "He's awake."

He blinked at the voice as his mind groggily provided that he knew it and trusted it. "That's good, looks like he'll be fine. He'll just need rest now, as do you. You're not even supposed to be up yet!" Another voice he knew and he could tell that it was exceedingly annoyed with the first one as well.

A chuckle and soon the first voice was speaking again. "I understand but I had to check on my Apprentice after all." The voice was definitely male, he was sure of that. "But I think I will rest, I am beginning to tire, but I'll stay here."

The second voice sighed in irritation before huffing in annoyance. "Fine, but you will sit, I cannot allow you to do anything else or you will pull out your stitches. You barely survived as it is." With that the sound of footsteps began to fade, leaving him with the first voice and the delicious cold hand on his head.

It was quiet for several minutes and he began to drift off to sleep again when he heard the voice speak one last time. "That's the thing though, I didn't survive."

TeenTitans

A.N. Wow, that was quite the epicness of Slade there. Vlad got what he deserved in the end and I have one last chapter coming up. What was the warmth that Danny felt, what does Slade mean by the fact that he didn't survive, what is going on! You'll just have to wait until next time! Please Review and tell me what you thought!

I have a special thanks to djanubis who created the Cover Art for this story. I find it epic and I have fallen so deeply in love with it that I have placed it as my screen saver for my Ipad and I just love it. So thank you so much djanubis for your hard work and epicness! Everyone should say thankyou and go check your artwork out cause I know I have several times and he has several pieces that I love! But anyways thank you again and I hope everyone else finds it epic as well.


	10. Closing and Opening

Chapter Ten

Closing and Opening

"That's the thing though, I didn't survive." Slade muttered to himself as he leaned back into the lazy boy chair that had been pulled over for him. He grunted as pain lanced through his stomach from where the metal had lodged itself a week ago. He still didn't understand how he was alive after that explosion; he should've been dead after that due to the fact that the last explosion had been right behind him.

He growled in irritation as his mind poked and prodded at him with something at the edge of his memories but he couldn't tell what it was, it was all too blurry. He'd have to figure out what was going on later, right now he thought he should get some sleep. It had been a long week and he felt that it was only going to get worse. "You better wake up soon Phantom." Slade said as he looked at the peaceful face of his apprentice. "We have much to discuss." With that he let his head fall back on the chair and fell asleep.

DannyPhantom

He wasn't sure what time it was, but one thing was for sure, he hurt. All over! "Ugh, tell me someone caught the number of that truck." Danny said as he blinked open his eyes and looked up at the ceiling of a familiar place. It took his foggy mind to come up with the information but when he did he smiled softly. "I did make it back then." He said as he moved his arms slowly to make sure that they would work and then slowly, ever so slowly he sat up.

"Ah, looks like you're finally awake. I was beginning to wonder if you were dead." Danny blinked at the voice in surprise before he looked over at the masked face of his master. "You've been asleep for two weeks now and it is currently two o'clock in the morning." Slade announced as he carefully shifted his body in the big black lazy boy chair.

Danny nodded his head at the information before he looked at his hands that were currently wrapped in bandages and then he realized something else. He was currently nude except for bandages and a blanket pooled around his waist. "How badly was I injured?" He asked as he looked underneath the blanket to see how many bandages were wrapped around his lower half.

"You acquired several new burns and cuts, not to mention an injection site that is currently still on your lower back. You'll be sore for quite some time." Slade admitted as he folded his hands in front of him carefully over his stomach. "You will not be up for any combat for at least a month and neither will I." Slade grumpily admitted.

Danny looked over at Slade with curious eyes. "Injection site?" He asked in wary curiosity.

Slade sighed and nodded his head. "Before I and the Titans arrived to save you, we were too late to stop any experiments done on you. Tell me, what is the last thing you remember?" Slade asked with his one sharp eye evaluating the youth.

Danny blinked again and looked down at the table with concentration as he thought back to what he remembered. "I was strapped on the table; he had me on my stomach for some reason. I don't remember what it was but he hit me with something in my back. I passed out not too long after that." He said as he looked up at his master.

Slade nodded his head. "I'm not surprised you don't remember us being there, you seemed quite out of it." Slade said as he held a hand out to the side and Danny was surprised when a mirror appeared. "Thank you Doctor." Slade said as he held the mirror out to Danny.

Danny took it and looked into it and almost dropped it. "My eyes…" He said as he trailed a finger over the smooth glass surface. "What the hell happened?" He asked as he continued to look at his reflection. He still looked almost entirely the same, raven hair with tanned skin, but his eyes. They were the sapphire he had grown up knowing. They were emerald now, like his ghost form use to have.

At this point it was Octavius who spoke, knowing that he would know more about the subject than Slade would. "It would seem that what he had injected you with was nano-bots so small that they were on the molecular scale, they were instantly attached to your DNA." He said calmly as he explained to Danny. "Once they had attacked to your DNA they went after the…what did you call it…the ectoplasm…that was glued onto it. Once they had attached to that part they began to lengthen it and cover your DNA more firmly and entirely."

Danny blinked at the explanation and nodded his head in understanding, his heart beating faster than what he wanted as he realized what that meant. "That means…that I was… or wasn't… human anymore." He said as he looked back at his master.

Octavius nodded while Slade kept silent. "That is correct, but because the Nano-bots weren't completely successful, you were an unstable project that was destroying itself from the inside out." He explained as he adjusted his glasses. "The nano-bots were unable to hold the ectoplasm in place for long terms and so you were changing back and forth constantly on a molecular scale and even if you had looked different at that point and seemed to be working, in all actuality you weren't."

"Okay, then how did you fix it then? If I was so unstable you must've done something to fix it since I'm apparently back to normal." Danny said as he looked at the doctor with curiosity and horror at what had been done to him.

Octavius smiled at that and nodded his head. "I did, I figured a way to use both experiments that were performed on you together." He announced as his eyes glowed with pride and excitement.

"Both experiments?" Danny muttered as his brows furrowed. "Are you talking about the ectoranium that was placed inside of me and the nano-bots then?" Danny asked cautiously.

The doctor nodded his head. "Yes, that's correct. The kryptonite, or ectoranium, was already melted from when I first helped you with that and because of that I was able to use the nano-bots to converge on that instead. The problem was that once the nano-bots were all full of the ectoranium that they had nowhere to go."

"Why didn't you just take out the nano-bots then? Wouldn't it have been easier to just remove them all together?" Danny pointed out.

Octavius nodded his head at this in agreement. "Normally that is what I would do, but the nano-bots were created with a feature, one I've never seen before!" He exclaimed at the end like a little kid with candy. "This feature has made it impossible to remove from your body or from your DNA if we don't want to kill you or rip your DNA out of your body!" He explained quickly. "Therefore I cannot remove them from your body, but I was able to use them to not only stabilize your body but also to return almost all of your powers!"

Danny stared at the doctor for several minutes, his mind blank as he took in the information before he looked over to his Master. "Is he telling the truth?" Danny asked as his emerald eyes blinked in stunned amazement.

Slade nodded his head with a small smirk hidden by his mask. "That's what he's told me as well, but I am unsure of whether that is what really happened or not." He admitted to his apprentice before turning to look at the doctor. "When will we be able to find out whether what you say is truth or not?"

Octavius frowned as he calculated in his head of the healing rate of the boy in front of him. "I give him a week from the way his wounds are already healing. It seems that is one of the abilities he has gained back. He is healing at an inhuman rate." He explained and to prove it he pulled out a small knife, grabbed Danny by the hand and nicked the boy on the palm.

Danny hissed and yanked his hand back afterwards, nursing his already sore hand and glaring at the elder man. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" He asked as he looked down at his hand to see the damage.

Octavius smiled smugly as Danny stared at his hand in astonishment. Slade looked curiously at his apprentice wondering what was wrong. "What is going on?" Slade asked as he sent a penetrating look at his apprentice. "Show me your hand." He demanded only a second later.

Danny didn't hesitate at the order and revealed his unhurt hand or his newly healed hand. "This is about the same rate I use to have back before the accident." Danny explained as Slade looked at the unblemished limb.

"I see." Slade said as he laced his hands in front of his face again. "So he has already shown signs of having regained his powers." Slade nodded happily to himself before he leaned back in his chair with his groan.

Danny stared at him for a second, his eyes lighting on the fact that his Master wasn't wearing his utility belt or his armor. He wore only a pair of sweats and a loose black long sleeve shirt, his hands pale from all the time underneath gloves, feet clad in black slippers. "Is that why his eyes are currently emerald instead of his once sapphire?" Slade asked suddenly.

Octavius nodded at that. "It is, I was unable to control many of the changes and apparently the one that changed his appearance was the eye color. He will forever have emerald eyes now instead of blue." He stated. "We'll have to wait and see what other changes there are in his body until both of you are healed." He stated before walking away. "I'll bring some food for us to eat." With that he disappeared into the darkness that was the lair that Danny had known for a couple of years now.

"You said that you wouldn't be able to fight for a while earlier? What happened to you? Are you hurt? How bad and where? Is that why you aren't wearing your normal armor? Are you in any pain right now? Do I need to call the Good Doctor back?" Danny shot off question after question and Slade had to stop him before the boy turned blue from lack of air.

"Do not worry, I will heal in time." Slade stated as he laid a hand gently on his stomach. "I was hit with shrapnel from my battle with Masters…"  
"Plasmius."  
Slade blinked in surprise at his apprentice's interruption. Danny blinked before he explained what he meant. "Call him Plasmius, I only have one Master after all and you have none."

Slade nodded his head in understanding as he realized what the boy meant. "From my battle with Plasmius and it had cut open my stomach. I was lucky enough not to have my insides spilling out." Slade explained. "I was able to get away afterwards though and return here." 'Though I don't understand how.' Slade thought to himself.

Danny sighed and nodded his head. "Well at least you're alright. I guess we'll deal with Plasmius later and finish him off." Danny said as he laid back down in his bed with his arms behind his head.

Slade shook his head at that with a smug smirk. "We will not have to worry about Vlad Plasmius in this life." Slade stated, getting a shocked look from his apprentice. "I was able to destroy him along with his house before I returned here."

Danny stared from his position in shock at his master. His mind raced to process the information and after several seconds his eyes blurred. His breath shortened as he fought to control himself but soon tears were flowing over his cheeks and sobs escaped him.

He had been through hell in the last few years. The scars that were left on him, skin, heart, and mind were all still present and had yet to start to heal for only one real reason. He could've still been taken away from his current home and Master. Plasmius could've ruined everything for him and left him dead in a ditch somewhere in the end.

But now he wasn't in danger anymore. He was safe and sound with his Master, with Slade, where no one could hurt him unless Danny himself put himself in that position. Even then Slade would do what he needed to help Danny where needed.

"I'm free." Danny whispered as he covered his eyes by throwing an arm over them. "I'm really and truly free." He gritted his teeth to stop himself from releasing another sob. "He's gone and now I don't have to worry about returning to that damned life!"

Slade could only watch as the information finally dawned on the boy and he couldn't help but be happy for his apprentice. For even though he was the true Master, the boy had taught Slade a few things as well. Trust was one of them, the ability to trust his Apprentice when it came down to it. Phantom…no…Danny had showed him that even though several of his Apprentices had betrayed him in the past that he could trust Danny, because Danny himself trusted Slade.

Both Danny and Slade had taught the other things needed in life and both couldn't help but be happy with what had happened, even if it had been painful. Finally Slade spoke and with that Danny's tears quickened. "You are free Danny and I swear, no one will ever take that away from you again."

TeenTitans

"Ugh. I'm so bored!" BB yelled out as he slumped back onto the couch with his arms sprawled out by his sides. "Nothing's happened for months now!"

Raven scowled at her friend before returning to her book. "You could always try and read you know." She suggested as she continued from her place. "You might actually gain a small grain of knowledge."  
Beast Boy scowled at her before shaking his head. "Nah, I don't like reading, it's too boring for me!" He announced before he looked over to the rest of the group. Starfire was in the kitchen making one of the many recipes from her home planet that only she would eat in the end. Cyborg was playing a video game next to the green hero, determined to beat his high score again. Robin was standing in front of one of the windows looking out towards the city with his arms crossed over his chest.

"I think I'll go for flight." Beast Boy finally said in the end as he stood up and left the living room, not noticing that the others beside Starfire didn't even take notice.

Robin wasn't really paying attention to anything, his mind more focused on the fact that only one body had been recovered from Vlad Master's house. Nothing was discovered on what had caused the fire but Robin could give a good guess.

Another thing was that neither Slade nor Phantom had made an appearance in months. They had stayed quiet for too long and it was starting to make Robin nervous since nothing good came from Slade being quiet.

He hadn't even considered that the two had been badly injured and were only resting. That possibility was impossible since Robin had never once seen Slade so badly injured that he had to rest for long periods of time. He was sure that Phantom was the same.

It was at about this time though that the alarm went off and startled everyone in the tower. "Trouble! Titans Go!" Robin yelled as he ran out the door with Starfire and Raven right behind him, Cyborg right behind the two of them.

Soon enough they were off with Cy in the T-Car with Raven, Robin on his motorcycle, and Starfire flying over hear. "Where is Beast Boy?" Robin asked as he swerved down the road before turning sharply.

"He's on his way." Cyborg called over as he followed close behind Robin. "Raven gave him a call and gave him the co-ordinates. He'll meet us there."

"Alright, Cyborg you know what to do! Figure out what's going on and what building we're hitting this time!" Robin ordered.

Cyborg of course was already on it, quickly typing on the minicomputer that he had installed in the T-Car just for that purpose. "It's another high-tech place Robin. This one creates military weapons and other technology used in war-fare." Cyborg said as he hacked into the security system quickly. Once he did though he blinked in astonishment. "Ah, this seems oddly familiar." He said as he sent the security feed over to Robin who was now sat out front of the company.

"You're telling me." Robin said as he looked at the giant hole in the side of the building. He quickly glanced down at the feed and his brows furrowed as he realized that the system wasn't showing anything even though the weapons were going off, shooting at something. "I think I know what's going on." Robin said as he stood off his bike just in time for Starfire to land next to him with Beast Boy as well.

"Dude, this is Déjà vu!" BB exclaimed as he began to shake and tremble. Robin stared at his friend and his suspicions only strengthened at that.

"Are you alright Beast Boy?" Starfire asked in worry as she laid a hand on his shoulder just as Cyborg came to a stop next to them.

Beast Boy smiled nervously and nodded his head. "It's just this feeling; it's so much stronger than it was last time, as if whatever is in there is stronger." Beast Boy explained as he looked at the hole in the wall in terror.

"Well, I think our boy is back." Cyborg said as he looked over at Raven who was nodding in agreement.

"I sense him inside, he is different as well. It feels as if he has only grown stronger in the months that he has been gone." She stated and floated up to Robin. "I am unsure if we'll be able to confront him successfully this time either." She admitted.

Robin nodded his head as he walked towards the wall. "We'll just have to find out then now won't we?" Robin said as he jumped through the wall and into the building, the others quickly following him.

They moved through the building soundlessly, Cyborg having already shut down the security system, all prepared to attack if need be.

It was just at the end of one hall that Robin signaled them to stop as he looked around the corner, his eyes narrowing as he recognized the black and white outfit instantly. "It's him." Robin whispered as he turned to look at his team. "We'll have to be careful." He stated and turned to attack the boy but froze as he came face to face with emerald eyes only inches in front of him.

Phantom smirked as he jumped into the air and used Robin to propel himself over the rest of the Titans. He landed gracefully behind them before turning and looking at them with smug eyes. "You guys have gotten slow since I've been gone." He stated as he leapt away from one of Starfire's energy bolts. "Come on now, I know you can do better." He taunted as he turned and raced away from them.

Robin scowled as he raced after the other, knowing that his team would be right behind him as he did. They followed the boy out of the building and out onto the street only to stare in surprise at Cinderblock, Plasmus, and Overload standing in front of them. "Raven and Cyborg you take Overload. Starfire and Beast Boy take Plasmus. I got Cinderblock." Robin said as he leapt at the concrete being and quickly nailed him with several of his birdarangs.

Cyborg fired off a sonic boom at Overload while Raven disappeared from sight to appear behind the electrical being. Making sure that Cyborg's attack hit home. Overload was quickly cornered but he retaliated with a slam from his electricity, hitting Cyborg.

"Cyborg!" Raven exclaimed but quickly surrounded the disk that was the main part of Overload with her energy, making it impossible for the electrical beast to reach its power out any further.

"I'm fine, let's finish this and help the others." Cyborg said as he appeared next to the girl and blasted a sonic boom at the trapped being and soon Overload's main disk was laying on the ground, knocked out for the round. "Boo ya! That is how it's done!"

TeenTitans

Starfire and BB were having a bit of trouble with Plasmus since the being was like putty, he could reform almost instantly from all the attacks that they were putting against him. Though Beast Boy would turn T-Rex but even with the ferocious slam of a tail from the Dinosaur Plasmus reformed. "Ah, man, he's making this almost impossible!" BB exclaimed but Starfire quickly growled in annoyance and shot one powerful ball of energy at the beast.

"I will not be made a fool by a glutinous beast!" Starfire exclaimed as she shot another beam at Plasmus after he reformed once more. She frowned at the reforming putty in confusion and frustration.

BB noticed and quickly turned into a Rhino and charge Plasmus but was grabbed by one of the sharp claws and thrown up at Starfire who screeched in surprise, both hit the ground hard. "Sorry Star." Beast Boy said as he climbed off of her. "You're not hurt are you?" He asked as he helped her up.

"I am fine friend." Starfire assured before rising up in the air again. "But he will not be." She exclaimed as she flew at the being and this time she combined her powers together and released her power from her hands and eyes. Plasmus was unable to dodge the attack and screeched in pain as it connected with him, boiling his body before exploding outwards, leaving behind a sleeping male covered in goop.

"Wow Star," Beast boy said as he looked up at the Tamaranian, "remind me never to make you mad." Starfire smiled at him before turning to see if the others needed any help.

TeenTitans

Robin quickly back flipped away as Cinderblock slammed a fist where the boy wonder had just been. "This'll be easy." Robin muttered as he pulled out his staff and used it to propel himself up into the air enough to throw several of his disks at the concrete being.

Each connected and exploded on Cinderblock, causing him to stumble backwards and Robin quickly attacked, slamming his staff into the other.

Cinderblock was quickly knocked onto the ground and Robin quickly released several more bombs before leaping away from the other as the bombs went off. Once the dust had cleared, it revealed that Cinderblock was knocked out, leaving Robin to smirk smugly at the criminal before turning to look around.

Starfire landed next to him with a smile and Beast Boy wasn't too far behind either. Cyborg and Raven appeared as well, everyone seemed alright. "Any major injuries?" He asked as turned to look at each on carefully.

"Nope, I'm good." Cyborg stated with a thumbs up.

"Not even a scratch." Beast Boy chimed in.

"I am uninjured friend Robin." Starfire informed happily.

"I'm fine." Raven stated.

Robin nodded his head as he turned to see if Phantom was anywhere nearby but stopped as two figures appeared in front of them. Robin blinked in surprise knowing for a fact that they hadn't been there earlier. When they came into focus though Robin scowled and prepared for a battle. "Slade!"

The rest of the Titans were instantly in battle formation and prepared for anything as the two figures walked closer to them, only stopping when about a yard away. "Robin, it's good to see you again." Slade stated as he stood tall and proud with his normal outfit in place.

"I can't say the same." Robin stated as he ran forward and swinging his staff in front of him to slam into the elder man. He blinked in surprise though when his staff was met with a glowing green one, stopping his attack on the Criminal Master mind.

"Don't think I'll let you even lay a finger on my Master." Phantom snarled, his emerald eyes glowing with a fierce protectiveness that Robin was astonished at.

Slade chuckled as he laid a hand on his apprentice's shoulder. "Now Phantom, we aren't here for a battle." He stated as he looked back at Robin with a gleam in his eyes. "We're just here to show them that we're alive and well." He stated.

Phantom nodded his head but didn't move from his position. "I know Master but he attacked first." He stated as he pushed Robin backwards roughly before slamming the green staff into the ground next to him.

"Dude! If you weren't here to fight us then why break into a building!?" Beast Boy asked with his arms waving in the air.

"Not to mention the three minions you sicked on us." Cyborg stated as he crossed his arms.

Slade chuckled at the looks that all the Titans sent him before shrugging. "We had to catch your attention somehow, what better way than causing mischief."

"I'd call that more than mischief." Robin said as he crossed his arms, staff hanging from his hands tightly.

Phantom shrugged with an unrepentant smile. "Like Master said, we had to get your attention somehow, besides this was my idea anyways." He stated as he looked at all the Titans his emerald eyes glowing. Robin realized with a start that they hadn't been that color before, but a dark navy blue. "I wanted to say thank you."

The Titans all froze at that and before anyone could say anything else Slade spoke as well. "Yes, I agree with Phantom, thank you for your help before." This had all the Titans with their mouths on the floor, wondering if this was actually happening.

Phantom smiled at them with a fire in his eyes that none of them had seen before. "If you hadn't had helped Master before, than I would've still been on that table being used as a lab rat, but because you helped I'm free now." He stated with such a glow to his face that the Titans couldn't help but smile.

But then Robin frowned as he looked at Slade. "You killed Vlad Masters didn't you?" Robin asked with a serious face.

Slade actually chuckled and shook his head. "Actually no I didn't." He stated back and Robin could only blink in surprise.

"But his body was found inside of the house only hours after we left you there to fight him!" Robin exclaimed as he looked at Slade in disbelief. "There's no way you didn't kill him!"

"I didn't kill him, true I didn't help him out of the mansion, but I didn't kill him." Slade stated as he placed his hands behind his back. "I left him in a burning building after one of my distractions caught the place on fire. I didn't kill him and I in fact almost lost my life that day as well." He admitted.

The Titans were stunned once again as they looked at their most dangerous foe with disbelief. Phantom looked at the Titans before shaking his head and placing a hand on his hip and smirking at them. "Master is very smart and powerful, but he is also only human." He stated easily, taking the smack to the back of his head easily.

"They don't need to know that." Slade said as he looked back at the Titans. "Let them keep thinking that I'm immortal." Phantom rolled his eyes at that but didn't argue against his Master. "Either way, we came to just to say our gratitude before we leave to relax and train some more."

Phantom looked at the Titans before picking up his staff and walking towards Robin, coming to a stop in front of the stiff boy wonder. Robin eyed the boy while Phantom eyed him for several minutes.

Phantom finally smirked at the other before holding a hand out to him. Robin stared at him in shock before it transformed into a smile of his own and he took the hand in his own. Their grips were firm as they shook the others hand. "Does this mean you're leaving Slade and coming to our side?" Robin asked as he stared at the other.

Phantom scoffed as he glared at Robin. "Don't insult me like that; I'm simply acknowledging you as a worthy opponent." Phantom said as he released the hold quickly and then swung his staff at Robin's feet, catching the other of guard and knocking him to the ground. "The next time we meet don't expect me to go easy on you."

With that Phantom leapt away from Robin and landed next to his Master's side again. Slade nodded his head proudly at his student before looking back at Robin. "It seems Robin that I have found a more worthy apprentice than even you." With that the two disappeared into thin air.

Robin sat on the ground staring at the place the two had stood only moments ago for several moments in surprise. "Dude, that was weird." Beast Boy finally said, snapping everyone out of their amazement.

"You can say that again BB." Cyborg said as he looked at his little green friend. "I wonder why his eyes were different though."

"Do you think we will see the Phantom and Slade again?" Starfire asked Robin as she helped him stand up.

"I think we probably will Starfire." Raven replied to the girl instead as she stared at Robin.

Robin could only grin and nod his head in agreement.

DannyPhantom

"Do you think we made the right decision in saving that man?" A male voice asked as two figures watched Slade and Phantom confront the Teen Titans. "I mean he is a bad guy and Danny shouldn't be hanging around that sort of people. At least, isn't that what we taught him when we were alive?"

A bell like laugh and a shake of the head. "I'd rather have my baby boy live with that Slade person than with Vlad." Vlad's name was spat out like a curse by the female of the two. "Don't worry Jack; I'm sure Danny will be just fine. After all, he still does good in the end, even as he does bad too." She stated. "This Slade person will make sure to keep him safe and happy, I'm sure of it."  
Jack nodded his head as he looked down at his red headed wife with warming blue eyes, knowing that his wife would know best. Jack stated after a second. "I know your right Maddie, but I'll still worry about him. We left him behind and with Vlad the traitor." Again Vlad's name was spat like a curse that was too vile for human kind. "I can't believe I trusted him."

Maddie smiled up at her husband sadly before looking back down at Danny. "I know Jack, but now he can't hurt our baby boy." She said just as Danny shook hands with Robin.

Jack nodded his head and both watched silently as their baby boy conversed with the leader of the Teen Titans before knocking the green tight wearing hero down. "It's time to go Mads." Jack said sadly as he watched his son return to Slade's side.

Maddie nodded her head and whispered one last thing before both she and her husband disappeared. "We love you Danny, and we always will no matter what."

With that the two parents disappeared.

**The End**

DannyPhantom

A.N. Don't kill me please.

This is the ending for Turning the Tables. I hoped you all liked it and I hoped I explained clearly enough as well. Please review and tell me what you thought. Another special thanks to djanubis for doing an awesome cover for my story. Again this is the end, no sequel, I hoped you all enjoyed and please review.

I have no ownership over with Danny Phantom or Teen Titans.


	11. Announcement!

A.N

Alright Alright, I get it! You guys want a sequel to my story Turning the Tables! Alright, I'll do it since the Polls are closed since it has been around a month since I Put up the Poll. I have an Idea of what the sequel will be but first I must finish at least two of the three stories I have up at the moment, so forgive me if it takes a little bit to be put up. But I will tell you the title I have planned for this Sequel so keep an Eye out for it alright.

The Title of the Sequel to Turning the Tables is...Drum roll please...

**REVERSING REFLECTIONS!**

****It will be another Robin and Danny story but will reflect more on the relationships between each Hero and their Masters! That's all I'm going to tell you so Please be patient until I can put is up. Thank you for your votes and I can't wait to see what you guys think of it!


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